Something Of Value
by PerfectImperfection85
Summary: The feud between Dan and Keith Scott heats up when someone close to Keith becomes involved. How far will Dan go to get revenge on his brother? CURRENTLY BEING RE-WRITTEN!
1. Hello Again

_A/N – Ok so this is my first OTH Fanfic. I've read heaps of them though so I know the standards I have to live up to. There are some seriously talented writers on here. Anyways this idea kind of came to me when I was browsing through the fanfics and I realised that there's hardly any involving Dan and Keith. So I thought I'd have a go._

_Background – Basically everything that has happened in all 3 Seasons has happened, up to and including most of episode 3.16. However, I'm changing 3.16 around a bit because I was absolutely gutted when they killed Keith off so, yes, I'm bringing him back. The shooting at the school did happen but the way it actually happened was Keith went in to talk to Jimmy, Jimmy shot himself, the same way it happened in the episode but Dan didn't go in and kill Keith, he was too bust talking to reporters and stuff outside. Also there's an extra character in this story that does not fit in to the original plot so many of you may wonder how I've fitted them in. Don't worry just go with it all will be explained. Oh and in my story Lucas tested negative for HCM, why the hell should the one thing he inherits from his no good shit of a father being a life threatening disease! I don't think so dammit! Lol._

_And last (for a reason, I hate these legal things) Disclaimer – Do I own Tree Hill or any of its characters? Haha. Yeah right! If I did you'd be seeing this story on the WB instead of having to read it._

_And with that out of the way, it's on with the show………….._

**Chapter 1 – Hello Again**

She stared out of the tiny cabin window, watching the clouds go by below her but at the same time not really seeing them. Her I-Pod was turned up full volume, despite numerous protests from the old lady beside her who had insisted that if she wasn't more careful, she would damage her hearing. Like she cared. She knew what the woman had really wanted to say was something to the effect of 'turn that damn noise down'. Only maybe not in as polite terms. The old lady had taken one look at her in her ripped jeans and Fall Out Boy t-shirt, not to mention the long, fire red streaks in her hair, and seriously contemplated changing her seat. Old ladies like the one sitting beside her were always intimidated when they saw her, though she had no idea why. It didn't matter anyway. In less than a half hour the plane would touch down in Charlotte Douglas International Airport, North Carolina and she'd be away from snotty old ladies and on her way home, back to him.

A smile crept across her face as she thought about how close she was to seeing him again. She couldn't believe a year had passed since the last time she'd seen him. But at least a year between visits was better than three, which is what it had been before he came to visit last year. For the last five years she wished for only one thing. To be close to him again. It wasn't that she thought she made the wrong decision by leaving. After she lost her mom she needed to get away. She'd wanted to learn to be independent, to stand on her own two feet. He'd been disappointed, even a little hurt at first that she'd chosen to leave, but she'd explained that although she loved him and would love nothing more than to be with him permanently, she needed this time away. Eventually he had understood, and at just twelve years old she'd boarded a plane to Ohio, to attend a boarding school close to her Grandparents home in Cincinnati. She hadn't been back since. Yet somehow she didn't feel nervous at all.

She thought about the last time she'd seen him. One year ago almost to the day. She'd been lying if she said she hadn't been surprised when he'd shown up at her Grandparents' home just a few days after she'd arrived home for summer break. Her surprise was short lived however and replaced by unbelievable happiness that he was there. She knew from the moment he'd turned up with his bags that her Grandparents had been in on it.

Despite being ecstatic to see him, however, as soon as she laid eyes on him she knew there was another reason for his visit than simply to see her. Regardless of their years apart they'd always had a strong and close relationship. They knew each other inside out. He was her best friend. She knew he was just as happy to see her but something in his eyes told her that something was wrong. They were missing their usual sparkle. But she wouldn't push him. He'd tell her when he was ready.

So he had moved in with her for the summer. Conveniently, though she suspected it was more than just coincidence, her Grandparents' were getting ready to fly out to California for two months to visit her Uncle David and his family. She knew it was strange that they had agreed to leave her alone for all that time. Even though she was sixteen, her Grandparents were very protective and old fashioned. But at the time she'd been so surprised and excited that they'd agreed to leave her alone all summer that she didn't want to question it incase they realised they made a mistake. When he'd shown up she'd realised they hadn't and she couldn't have been more grateful that they'd gone out of their way to let them have their time alone.

It had felt amazing to be living with him again. She'd missed him so much over the last five years, even though he had tried his best to visit when he could. So they spent the entire summer together, visiting all the local landmarks, museums and galleries, taking trips to the cinema, and of course he had taken her on a rather extravagant shopping spree. She'd tried to refuse the amount of money he was spending but he just laughed and told her that was how it should be. And when they had done and seen almost everything there was, they spent there days lounging in front of the TV or just sitting talking and catching up on the years they had missed. She filled him in on how boarding school was going and he told her what was going on back home. He told her all about how Lucas and Karen were doing, and about Haley's marriage. She hadn't been too shocked to hear about that since Lucas had filled her in on their regular emails. Though she still couldn't believe she was actually married to Nathan Scott, resident jock and asshole as far as she could remember. Lucas had reassured her that he had changed, seemingly since meeting Haley. That hadn't particularly surprised her. She hadn't seen Haley in more than five years but even as kids Haley had always been an amazing person. She loved her like a sister and the two of them, along with Lucas, had been inseparable.

Eventually the topic turned to him and she worked up the nerve to ask him what had happened back home that had caused him to turn up on her doorstep out of the blue. He'd smiled sadly and she had cuddled into him on the sofa, sensing that he was hurting and needed support but at the same time knowing he was too proud to ask for it. No matter what it was, she would stand by him, she had told him.

But she had been anything but prepared for what he told her. She'd always known his brother was an evil son of a bitch but she never suspected he would do something so low to his own brother. He had humiliated him in front of pretty much everyone he loved. They'd had an ongoing feud for years now. It was the main reason he hadn't wanted her going home to visit. He hadn't wanted her to end up involved. His brother hurt everyone he touched and he wouldn't allow that to happen to her.

But things had changed. She'd realised when summer ended and it was time to return to school that she couldn't be away from him any longer. She was ready to go back. So she planned to finish the next year at school and then return home to him. She was ready. For some reason since she came to her decision time seemed to drag at an unbearable pace.

Then suddenly here she was, 35000 feet above North Carolina, about to complete her mission from a year ago. And she couldn't wait.

"Excuse me Miss….. Miss!" She felt a hand lightly tap her shoulder and removed the earpiece, irritated that whoever it was had interrupted her in the middle of her favourite Creed song, With Arms Wide Open.

"What…!" She replied, rather abruptly, regretting her tone immediately when she noticed the Flight Attendant looking down at her with a patient though obviously annoyed smile on her face that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Sorry to disturb you but we're about to begin landing and I need to ask you to put away all equipment and fasten your seatbelt."

"Oh. Ok sorry." She answered, immediately doing as she was asked. She felt butterflies of excitement stir up in her stomach as she realised the wait was almost over. She was finally home.

……………………..

The small café was buzzing with activity as the lunch time crowd hurried to collect their lunches before getting back to school or work. It didn't faze Karen though. Nothing could faze her lately. She was just so happy to have Keith and Lucas safe after the tragedy at the High School just two weeks before. They'd both been inside, Lucas rushing in to save his friend and of course Keith rushing in after him. Karen had never been so afraid in her whole life. Luckily they'd both managed to get out unharmed. That luck unfortunately had not reached everyone. She thought now and again about Jimmy Edwards and why he had chosen to end it the way he had. She felt for her son. Jimmy had been a good friend to Lucas at one point, before life had caused them to drift apart. She knew the experience still haunted him. Keith was dealing with it as best he could, considering he had actually witnessed the boy take his own life. He was remaining strong for Lucas. She loved that about him. It was just one of the many things she loved about him. She found herself gazing at the white gold ring on her left hand. She was actually engaged. And she was happy.

The sound of an irate customer clearing his throat brought her back from her daze and she handed over the coffee with a mumbled apology. She glanced to her left and noticed Haley looking over with a mock annoyed expression.

"Jeez Karen anyone would think I'm the one running this place." She joked, although she couldn't help but be happy for the woman she'd always thought of as a second mother.

Karen laughed, "Well maybe if my no good son over there would get off of his butt and help we'd get this done a lot quicker." She said loudly.

Lucas remained oblivious, his head in a book and his I-Pod turned up full volume. Haley walked up quietly behind him and swatted the back of his head with the dish cloth.

"What the…." Lucas jumped, narrowing his eyes in mock annoyance when he realised who had swatted him. "You know I'll get you back for that later!" he joked, for the first time noticing the crowded café surrounding him. He quickly rose to his feet to help.

………………….

She watched the scene inside the café with amusement, glad to see not everything had changed. She couldn't wait to surprise them but knew it would be more sensible to wait until the last of the crowd had left, otherwise she would cause uproar.

When the café had emptied she stood up, slinging her backpack over her shoulder, and made her way up the steps into the place she had missed like crazy. She entered quietly, still after all these years knowing the trick to getting through the door without hitting the bell. Lucas and Haley were sitting at a table with their backs to her, Haley taking a well deserved break. Karen had disappeared out back. Even better, double the surprise.

She cleared her throat, "Jeez what does a girl gotta do to get a coffee around here. The service in this place sucks." She joked, grinning to herself as she noticed Lucas look up, but not yet turn around.

A wide grin formed on Lucas's face when he heard the all too familiar voice. He'd recognise it anywhere, despite all the years that had past. ""Who is this little weed that dare come in here and diss my mom's perfectly good service?" He joked, as he finally made his way over to her, wrapping his arms around her and lifting her off the ground. "Hey cuz, long time no see! Hey mom, you got a rowdy little ratbag out here disturbing the peace, you want to throw her out or should I?" He laughed as a hand clipped the back of his head for the second time in less than an hour.

Karen made her way out front, hearing the commotion. She froze in shock as she caught sight of the girl standing inside the doorway, flanked by both Lucas and Haley, who still had her arms wrapped around the girl. The coffee pot she held in her hands promptly fell from her grip, hitting the floor with a crash. Luckily it was empty and made of plastic. Karen didn't care though. She was too busy staring at the smiling girl in front of her. What had it been? Five years? She would be seventeen now, only a few months younger than Lucas. She couldn't believe the difference the years had made.

"Cassie! Oh my gosh!" Finally finding her voice, and her feet, she rushed forward to gather the girl into her arms.

Cassie laughed and returned the hug. "Jeez Karen, better be careful, people might think you guys missed me." She joked.

"Missed you? Hell no girl, my mom's just happy to have an extra pair of hands to help out around here right mom?" Lucas laughed and ducked the hand that swatted at him.

"Shut it you, I know you missed me most." Cassie teased.

Karen ushered her into the café and to an empty table, where she promptly began making the usual fuss, making sure Cassie had been fed and watered on her long flight and that there was nothing she needed. Cassie politely declined and told Karen in no uncertain terms to sit her ass down and take a break.

Eventually, once the initial surprise had worn off and the only two remaining customers had left, Karen flipped the closed sign over on the front door and the four sat down to talk and catch up on the last five years.

Cassie teased Haley about her High School wedding, and questioned Lucas on the latest news of his relationship with the ever popular Brooke Davis. Cassie hadn't really known Brooke when they were young. They'd run in different circles and pretty much hadn't even known the other existed. But Lucas seemed happy and Cassie trusted his judgement.

Then Cassie had congratulated Karen on her own engagement and told her that she couldn't be happier about it and Lucas saw his opportunity to ask the question that was on everyone's mind.

"So Cass, does Keith know your home?"

Cassie shook her head and grinned at the mention of his name. "Not yet. I uh, I kinda wanted to surprise him."

"Well colour me surprised!" Said a voice from the doorway, causing all everyone to look up and Cassie to leap out of her seat.

"Good surprise or bad surprise?" Cassie asked with a teasing glint in her eye.

Keith laughed and shook his head. Some things never changed. She was still the little wiseass she had always been. He couldn't believe she was actually standing in front of him.

"Get over here kid!" He demanded, opening his arms for a hug that she was only too happy to accept. "God I've missed you so much."

Despite her best attempts to stop them, Cassie felt warm tears slowly begin to make their way down her cheeks as she returned the hug. "I've missed you too Dad."

………………

After Cassie was sure her father couldn't possibly squeeze anymore air out of her body, he pulled away and held her at arms length, looking at her in absolute awe. Karen ushered Lucas and Haley out back, sensing that father and daughter need some time alone. Other than the day she had asked him to marry her, she couldn't remember a day in the last year when Keith had looked so happy. There was no question about how much he loved his little girl, though she wasn't so little anymore. She smiled to herself, anticipating Keith's surprise and unbelievable joy when Cassie told him she was coming home for good. Quietly, she left the pair to it.

Cassie laughed at her father's still stunned expression. "Its ok Dad, I know your getting old and everything but I promise you you're not starting to see things. I'm really here.

"Hey! Watch it with the old thank you very much!" He mock scowled, though not able to keep the smile from his face for long. "Jeez kiddo you knocked me for six! What… how….?" He trailed off, still unable to speak.

Deciding to save him from having to talk when she knew he only stutter and stumble over his words, Cassie explained. "Well, after you left last year I realised that I missed you too much to stay away. I've had the time away that I need and I'm ready to come home. So Grandma helped me switch schools once I'd finished the year and booked me on the first plane back to Tree Hill. I want to come home Dad."

For the second time in less than fifteen minutes, Keith pulled his daughter into his arms. "You have no idea how good it is to hear you say that Cass." He said, his voice breaking as his own tears finally started. "I'd love you to come home sweetheart."

"Really? But what about, uh, well I mean is everything ok with Dan? You told me it'd be better if I stayed away for a while."

"Honey, my brother has done his best to take a lot of things from me lately, and I'll be damned if I'm gonna let him spoil things for us now that you're finally home. Don't worry about it." He ran his hand softly over her tear stained face. "Come on, I know we've talked on the phone regularly but I want to catch up in person. What's say you and me head out for a walk around town, get you reacquainted while we talk?"

"Sure, I'd like that."

"Ok, let me just go let the guys know."

"No need." Karen's said from the doorway to the back of the café. She smiled at the pair and Keith kissed her goodbye before leaving arm in arm with his daughter.

……………..

"Ok so wait let me get this straight." Keith laughed as he and Cassie walked peacefully through the streets that had once been her home. "You broke the guy's nose _and _kicked him where it hurts before pouring his own drink over his head!" He couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. Actually no, scratch that, he could totally believe what he was hearing.

Cassie looked back at him with an innocent expression before breaking out into a devilish grin. "Hell yes! Maybe that'll teach him not to try and grab a girl's ass in future. You disappointed?" She asked, knowing he wouldn't be.

"Hell no, I'm damn proud that my little girl knows how to stand up for herself. It's just a shame I wasn't there to give the guy a beating."

They had been walking for almost an hour and yet neither felt the need to turn back, both content to be in each others company for the first time in a year. They had visited all the places that Cassie remembered from being a kid. All except the River Court. She couldn't wait to get back there and shoot hoops with Lucas again, but she knew everyone would be there and she wasn't quite ready to give up her time with her father just yet.

Suddenly Cassie felt him tense beside her and only then did she realise that they had turned onto the street where his old auto shop had been, the one her uncle had thought nothing of pulling from under his feet. She knew how hurt he had been when Dan had done that. Keith knew Dan was evil but Cassie didn't think that he had even thought for a second that his own brother would stoop that low. A part of her father still loved his brother and she knew he wished that Dan would find a way to let go of his bitterness so they could try and form some kind of relationship. But she also knew that there wasn't a cat in hell's chance of that ever happening. Quite frankly the man gave her the creeps.

She hugged her father tighter and looked up at him. "You ok?"

"Huh, oh, yeah." He nodded and smiled down at his daughter, wrapping an arm around her shoulders so he could pull her closer. "Yeah honey I'm fine. I let go of this place a long time ago but sometimes it's still strange to see it, you know?"

"Yeah." They stood still for a moment and Cassie wrapped both arms around her father, who returned the gesture just as content to have her back as she was to be back.

They stood like that for what seemed like forever and Cassie noticed that the sun which had been setting a few moments ago had now given away to darkness, the light of the street lamps illuminating the street and the shop they stood in front of.

"Come on Honey, its getting cold. Let's get home." He was about to turn and leave when an all too familiar voice spoke from behind him.

"Well well well, big brother, cheating on Karen already? You work fast. You two only just got engaged." Dan taunted, not yet able to see the person standing in his brother's arms.

Cassie was angry. She was mad as hell for two reasons. One, the fact that she hadn't even been back a day and already she'd managed to run into this asshole. And two, that he had the nerve to ruin one of the first perfect moments she had shared with her father in a year. She felt him loosen his grip as he turned to face his brother and she moved to stand at his side, allowing Dan to see her for the first time.

His eyes widened when he noticed her and a smirk appeared on his face. He gave a humourless laugh as he looked her over. Cassie stared right back with nothing but hatred in her eyes.

"Oh! Look at this! The prodigal daughter returns. Well don't just stand there…" He taunted menacingly, "Come give your uncle Dan a hug." The smirk never left his face as he spoke. Something inside Cassie snapped.

"I'm sorry I don't know what you mean. My uncle Dan is dead. He died a while back. Right around the time the asshole paid a cheap whore to ruin my Dad's life." She spat, not in the mood to put up with the man's games. Not tonight. Tonight should have been a happy night. Now it was ruined. She had felt her father tense protectively as soon as he had heard his brother's voice.

"Cass…" Keith warned. The last thing he wanted was his brother pissed at his daughter. He knew Dan would already see Cassie as an easy target to get at him. Anything more would only make it worse.

Cassie quietened upon hearing her father's warning.

"Whoa.." Dan laughed. "This kid has a smart mouth. You should listen to your Daddy kid. You have no idea who you're talking to." He said, taking a step towards Cassie.

In an instant, Keith had placed himself between them, keeping Cassie close behind him, as he squared up to his brother. "What do you want Danny? I'm about to go home and spend an evening with my daughter so you'll excuse me if I don't have time to stand around and exchange the usual pleasantries with you."

His voice dripped with sarcasm and Cassie couldn't stop the grin that spread across her face. Then she noticed Dan looking at her, anything but pleased, and tried her best, without success, to suppress the smile.

In a second Dan's smirk was back as he replied to Keith's question. "Well I think I have a right to be concerned when I see you standing here with your arms around another woman. I mean you are marrying the mother of _my son_ after all."

Keith visibly flinched at this remark and Dan chuckled. "But now that I know that it's just my niece…."

Cassie could take no more and cut him off. "Don't call me that you asshole! Don't you ever call me that. You're nothing to me after what you've done to my Dad. Nothing do you understand."

"Cassie honey enough." Keith commanded, wishing more than anything that he hadn't gotten his daughter into this situation on her first day back. He wanted to keep her as far away from Dan as possible. Unfortunately it hadn't worked out that way and he could tell that Cassie had already managed to piss Dan off. "Danny just leave ok. Walk away. This is Cassie's first day back and we just want to spend some time together."

That annoying smirk appeared on his face again and it was all Cassie could do not to reach forward and wipe it off with her fist. She wasn't afraid of this pathetic man in front of her. It took a lot to frighten Cassie and at the moment her uncle was only succeeding in annoying the hell out of her. But she stayed quiet. Although she didn't feel afraid she knew that her father didn't worry for just anything. He had wanted her to stay away from Tree Hill for the last four years, making the trips out to Ohio himself instead. Cassie knew that there had to be a good reason.

Without another word, Dan stood aside, allowing Cassie and Keith to pass him. Keith kept himself between Cassie and his brother until they were a comfortable distance away, not putting anything past him after the incident at the dealership. Dan had already held a grudge against him for years, but now he truly believed that Keith had tried to kill him and that could only make things a hundred times worse. There was one thing that Keith knew about his brother and that was that no-one ever messed with him without some form of payback.

"See you round niece!" Dan yelled after them and Cassie tensed in her father's arms.

Keith noticed this and tightened his hold on her. _Great! _He thought. _Just freaking great! She's been home all of two minutes and already he's messing with her. _

As if reading his thoughts she nudged him, smiling. "It's ok. Honestly he doesn't scare me. He just likes messing with people's minds that's all. He's all talk."

"I know honey. I just wish you hadn't had to deal with him so soon." Keith replied, while praying to God that his daughter was right.


	2. Right Where I Belong

**Chapter 2 – Right Where I Belong**

The sound of movement from her father's room startled her. _Shit! He's awake! _She frantically set to work serving up the breakfast on to the four plates. Eggs, scrambled with cheese, just the way she knew he liked them, bacon, sausage, mushrooms and her own famous hash browns. The breakfast of the Gods, as far as Cassie was concerned and she knew that her father agreed, as did Lucas.

Just as she was serving the last piece of bacon, her father wandered sleepily into the kitchen rubbing his eyes, his hair totally mussed from sleep. Cassie snickered under her breath but Keith heard and shot his daughter mock glare.

"What's all this? Maybe I have this totally wrong but aren't I supposed to be the one making you breakfast after your trip? And since when do you leave your bed before 10:00am?" He teased. It was then that he noticed the two extra plates that were now set at the table. "Uh, obviously I've lost the ability to count over night as well as slipping into an alternate universe."

This earned him a laugh from Cassie as she set his plate in front of him. "I invited guests."

Right on cue, Lucas and Karen entered and Keith all of a sudden felt stupid for even wondering who the plates were for.

"And to answer your numerous questions father dearest, this is breakfast a la Cass, and the best damn breakfast you'll ever have. Well except from maybe Karen's but that's not really fair competition she's been in the business longer than me."

Karen scoffed at this comment. "Please you could give me a run for my money with this any day. It's delicious."

"Thank you," Cassie grinned at her soon to be step mom before turning back to her father. "As for the other questions, well, I cook better than you for one," She threw him a wink as he narrowed his eyes. "And I leave my bed before ten since I took up jogging at sunrise. It clears your head for the day." She hoped she said the last bit quick enough that he wouldn't pick up on it. She should've known better.

"You went out alone this morning?" He said, looking concerned.

She played it cool, "Uh… yeah. I didn't realise there was a reason not to."

"Cass, I'm just not sure I want you going out alone early on a morning when no-one's around. Not after last night." He was using his 'don't question me' tone that she still recognised well.

Karen picked up on his last comment immediately, "What happened last night?"

Her voice dripping with sarcasm, Cassie smiled sweetly and replied, "Oh nothing. I just got reacquainted with my loving Uncle."

Lucas rolled his eyes, while Karen shared a concerned look with Keith, unsure as to whether he had told his daughter the extent of Dan's grudge against him. He shook his head slightly, indicating that he had yet to tell his daughter the whole truth. He looked at his daughter, concerned, but knowing that it was both useless and unfair to keep her under lock and key when she'd just arrived home.

"Ok look just be careful ok. I know it's totally pointless to try and stop you doing anything but I want you to keep your cell with you at all times. Deal?" He bargained. At least he'd be able to keep in touch with her that way. He wasn't completely sure if he needed to be worried for her physical safety as such, but he knew if nothing else his brother had a way of getting under people's skin and he didn't want him making Cassie's life a misery.

"Sweet! You got a deal Dad!" She turned to her cousin with a sly grin. "Hey you ready for an ass whooping on the court this morning?"

At this Lucas pretended to almost choke on his breakfast and fell about laughing. "I knew this breakfast was too good to be true. I'm starring in one of my cousin's dreams again aren't I?" He deadpanned shaking her arm lightly. "Hey Cass time to wake up."

"OH! Is that sarcasm I hear Lucas Scott? Are you mocking me? Well finish up your breakfast already and I'll take you down to the court for some coaching huh?" She teased. They hadn't played together since she'd left for boarding school and he was in for a shock. His ass was toast.

Laughing, Lucas stood and rinsed his plate at the sink before placing it in the dishwasher. "Well then let's not waste anymore time cuz. I'm just dying for your lesson in how to lose horribly."

"Ha ha you mock what you do not know my friend! And hey, what's with the whole 'cuz' thing? From what I hear you should be calling me 'sis'." The shock on his face made her grin even wider. He obviously hadn't expected Keith to have told her yet. Though she couldn't believe he'd honestly think that she'd be any less than ecstatic that her Dad was going to adopt him. Cassie wasn't the type to bother with petty jealousy. She knew how much her father loved her as well as she knew how much he loved Karen and Lucas. She loved them just as much.

Keith grinned proudly at his daughter's acknowledgement and acceptance of her new brother. He had worried that because she lived so far away she would feel pushed out by the new development. But when he had told her about it over the phone the week before, at the same time he told her about the engagement, the last reaction he expected was her relieved 'About damn time.' Of course he hadn't known then that she was already booked on a flight home the following week and that surprise just made the whole situation a thousand times better. Now they could be a family. It would be good for Cassie to have a mother figure around after losing her own all those years ago.

With a wave to her father and Karen, Cassie playfully shoved Lucas out the door leaving Karen and Keith alone for the first time since Cassie's unexpected arrival.

"You know, for a seventeen year old kid I don't think I've ever known anyone more mature than Cassie, maybe with the close exception of Haley but it's a pretty close call." Karen said, wrapping her arms around her fiancé. Other than his daughter, no-one knew Keith as well as Karen did and she could see the underlying worry beneath his happiness at having her home. "You're worried about Dan aren't you?"

Keith sighed, "I wish I wasn't but yeah I guess I am. Damn it Karen she just got home yesterday and already she's had a run in with him, and that was when I was there! He'll do anything to get at me and I see the way he messes with Lucas and you and even Nathan and Haley and it just scares me because now he thinks he's got even more reason to try and get back at me."

Karen laid her head on his chest and spoke soothingly. "More than anyone I know what Dan's capable of. But I also know that Cassie is a tough little nut to crack. She's got a smart mouth and a wise head on her shoulders. If anyone can give Dan a run for his money, it's Cassie. And you know, from the way she talked this morning, I honestly don't think she's afraid of him. That was no act."

"Yeah," Keith replied in a distant voice, "That's what worries me."

……………………….

As they approached the River Court, Cassie glanced at Lucas slyly out of the corner of her eye. Without warning, she snatched the ball from his grip and dribbled it over to the court, before slamming it into the net with the perfect jump shot.

Lucas stood speechless, but before he could find his voice, the sound of hands clapping behind him caused him to spin around, immediately tensing as the sight of the person walking towards him. After hearing about what had happened the night before he knew the last person Keith would want Cassie running into was the man now standing before him.

"Wow Lucas I knew you sucked but I didn't know you sucked _that _bad. Must be because you missed out on being raised by your _real_ father. Hey it's never too late _son. _I could always give you some extra pointers. Oh but wait… it really wouldn't make any difference since you seem to be such a natural loser." Dan smirked.

Seeing Lucas tense, Cassie sauntered over and plastered her sweetest, fakest smile across her face at the man before her. "Twice in less than 24 hours _Uncle _Danny? Wow I feel really loved."

Dan laughed at the smart mouthed girl in front of him. She definitely got her sarcasm from her father. It reminded Dan of the day he'd had Keith arrested for his attempted murder. That day Keith's sarcasm had only succeeded in pissing him off but he had to admit, he was almost impressed with his niece, she had guts.

"Sorry to disappoint you honey but I'm actually here looking for my son." Directing his next comment at Lucas he said, "Too bad he's not here. Oh well, never mind."

Ok, now Cassie was officially pissed off. She hadn't realised how bad the people of Tree Hill actually had it with this asshole around. In less than 24 hours he had taunted her father, as good as threatened her, and now he was doing his best to get under Lucas's skin. She wouldn't stand for it.

"Hey _Uncle _Danny, your son might not be here but…" Playing on the adoption that she knew he was aware of she continued, "…your niece and _nephew_ are. How about game to eleven? Oh wait…" She slapped her hand to her forehead in feigned realisation, "…you can't play. That's right my bad, you have a heart condition. If you play you could collapse and die right?" With a quick glance over at Lucas to make sure she had his attention, she turned back to Dan and, looking him right in the eye, smirked and delivered the punch line in a sweet an innocent tone. "Wanna play anyway?"

Mission accomplished. The smug grin promptly disappeared from Dan's face, replaced by a cold fury that would make most people afraid, but only made Cassie laugh.

Lucas bit his lip to keep from laughing out loud but Dan caught the expression on his face. Conceding defeat, for now, Dan looked his niece up and down, laughed humourlessly at her and then turned and walked back to his car.

Cassie shrugged and turned back to Lucas. "Shame. Now I'll only get to whoop your ass. That won't be half as much fun." She smirked, pleased with herself.

Lucas, knowing what his biological father was capable of, was slightly more concerned. "Cass, you're gonna have to learn to be a little more careful with your mouth around him. Seriously you don't know what you're messing with. He doesn't play nicely."

Cassie rolled her eyes. "Oh please, why is everyone in this town so scared of this pathetic jerk. Seriously you need to stop letting him treat you like that." Seeing an opportunity to change the subject, and bring back the humour, she quipped "Hey, if you like after you're basketball lesson I could give you a tutorial in quick wit."

"OH! That's enough from you _little_ _sis_. You're goin down!" Without any further warning Lucas made a dive worthy of a Pro Football player and tackled Cassie, sending both of them flying to the ground. Laughing, Cassie tried to wrestle Lucas off her but soon found that there was at least one thing he was better at.

"What the hell is this!" An annoyed voice spoke from behind them for the second time that day, only this time Lucas was slightly happier to see the owner.

He quickly jumped up from the ground, helping Cassie to her feet at the same time. "Hey babe!" he said, leaning in for a kiss.

The brunette in front of Cassie was having none of it and shoved her hand over Lucas's mouth. "Don't hey babe me. I come all the way down her to see you after I don't here from you in almost 24 hours and I find you messing around with some chick. What the hell Luke?"

Brooke, Cassie guessed, this had to be the infamous Brooke Davis. A second later, Cassie's assumption was confirmed.

"Brooke chill will you, jeez if I was gonna cheat on you do you really think I would do it out here in public?"

Cassie covered her eyes, knowing that the joke wouldn't go down the way Lucas had planned and guessing what was coming next. Her guess was once again confirmed when she heard the sharp sound of a hand connecting squarely with Luke's face. She uncovered her eyes and had to laugh at Lucas's stunned expression until she realised that the brunette had turned her very unimpressed eyes on to her. Saving both their skins, Cassie introduced herself.

"Hey, Brooke right? Panic not! I'm definitely not stealing your boyfriend. I'm Cassie. Lucas's sister. Well cousin actually but that just a technicality right bro?" She said as she turned her amused eyes on Lucas, who was now not only recovering from Brooke's brutal slap, but also from being introduced as Cassie's brother for the first time. He had to admit he kinda liked it.

Realisation dawned in Brooke's eyes as she remembered Lucas talking about Keith having a daughter after the whole question about adopting him had been asked. "Cassie…ha…ok now I officially feel stupid."

Cassie laughed, immediately liking this girl, despite all her past experience of 'pretty girls'. Somehow she had a feeling there was more to this one. "Don't feel bad, I woulda clocked him as well for that line." She said, shooting a glare at Lucas.

"Hey!" he finally spoke. "What is this you two just meet and already it's gang up on Luke time?"

Cassie shot a sneaky glance at Brooke as she spoke, "You're just in time. I was just about to kick Luke's ass on the court. At least now I'll have a witness."

Brooke, despite her initial shock at finding her boyfriend manhandling some stranger, found that she was taking a liking to this girl before her. She and Lucas hadn't really spoken much about her but at a guess she'd say the girl had to be at least 17 and with the band t-shirts and ripped jeans, she reminded her a lot of Peyton.

"This I gotta see! Play your heart out boyfriend!" She pretended to cheer her boyfriend on while actually looking forward to seeing him get his ass kicked by a girl.

Cassie immediately doubled over laughing at the unintentional reference Brooke had made to her earlier confrontation with Dan.

"What did I say?" Brooke asked, hating to be out of the loop when it came to jokes.

Laughing along, Lucas filled Brooke in on the joke.

Even more impressed with the girl for having sent Dan Scott away with his tail between his legs, Brooke decided she would definitely fit in around here. And she was so looking forward to her first meeting with Rachel. She didn't really know Cassie but she was pretty much positive that it would be hate at first sight between the two. Cassie was just the person to help bring Rachel down a peg or two.

"Couple of questions, before you give my boyfriend the beating of his life." Brooke began. "Name your three favourite bands."

Taken aback by the unexpected question, Cassie answered, "Fall Out Boy, Dashboard Confessional and uh, I guess maybe Nada Surf would come next, why?"

Brooke let out a squeal of delight at getting the exact answer she wanted. "You have to meet my friend Peyton. You two will seriously hit it off in a second. You're like kindered spirits or something."

Cassie laughed. "Uh you mean _kindred_ spirits?"

Brooke shook the correction of with a wave of her hand. "Whatever, go give my boyfriend a serious ass whooping and then meet us in twenty at Karen's for coffee 'kay?"

"Uh sure ok." Cassie agreed, not quite believing the welcome she was receiving. When Brooke had left to go round up the troops, Cassie turned to Lucas with a raised eyebrow. "She's…um…cheery." She finally managed.

Grinning at her use of his nickname for Brooke, Lucas just nodded as he handed her the ball. "I believe its game to eleven right?"

"Right, and I believe I'm one up already am I not?" She smugly teased as she began to dribble the ball.

Without warning she faked right then spun left around Lucas, successfully landing another jump shot. Not quite believing what he was seeing he quickly joined the game.

Twenty minutes later Cassie had nailed the game at 11 to 4 and he was exhausted. "Damn girl, I never thought I'd hear myself say this but you know your way around a court!" He complimented, still not quite able to believe it.

Spinning the ball proudly on her middle finger Cassie grinned. "I know." Laughing she gave him a playful nudge in the ribs with her elbow. "Come on sweaty, we're late."

………………….

Making their way into the café they noticed that Brooke and Haley were already seated at a table with another girl, who Cassie assumed was Peyton. Seeing her father standing in the doorway to the back of the shop she walked over and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Hey Dad!"

"Hey baby. How'd it go at the court?" He replied, still not quite able to believe she was actually here with him, permanently.

"Great! As promised I kicked Luke's ass!"

"And Mr High and Mighty Mayor's too by the sound of it!" Brooke blurted, receiving a nudge from Lucas.

Cassie closed her eyes, knowing exactly what was coming next.

"What! You ran into Dan again? What happened? Did he come near you?" He asked, immediately panicking.

"Chill Dad, jeez. No he didn't come near me. He was there looking for Nathan and he made some wise ass comment to Luke about looking for his son but not finding him. So I gave it right back and he left with his tail between his legs! Seriously it's cool."

Keith looked to Lucas for a more detailed description of what had happened. Luke managed to pretty much explain it word for word and Cassie was unable to keep the grin from her face as she was reminded of her quick witted victory. Even Karen cracked a smile when Luke explained the crack about playing basketball with them.

Keith, although admittedly somewhat amused by his daughter's comment, did his best to look stern and serious as he warned Cassie again about messing with his brother.

"Yeah yeah I know Dan's almighty powerful and blah blah blah. Look it's not like I went looking for him, and I wasn't about to just stand there and let him tear into Luke like that. The man seriously needs bringing down a couple of shoe sizes. But I promise, from now on I'll do my best to stay away from him ok? Its gonna be difficult considering the size of this town and the fact that _Uncle _Danny just loves to cause trouble for this family. But I'll try ok." She looked at her father with the puppy dog eyes and angelic expression that she knew he still couldn't resist. Just as she thought, he relented.

"Ok ok, lecture over, go have fun. But please try not to piss off anymore of the Tree Hill big dogs." He joked to let her know he was no longer mad.

"Sure thing." She replied with a wave of her hand, not even looking back.

She pulled up a chair at the table between Lucas and Haley, with Brooke sitting on the other side of Lucas and Peyton sitting on the other side of Haley. Quick introductions were made between Peyton and Cassie and pretty soon it was as if she'd been part of the crowd for years. Moments later, the café door opened and Nathan sauntered in waving a quick hello to Karen and Keith and pulling up a chair next to his wife, dropping a kiss on her cheek as he sat down.

"So I get up this morning and in a regular everyday phone call from my wife I find out that not only do I have a new cousin in town, but that new cousin also happened to kick my brother's ass on the court less than 24 hours after arriving. Would this be true or have I not woken up yet?" He queried, directing his light teasing at Lucas who had known what was coming.

Deciding on first impressions that he wasn't such a bad guy, Cassie decided to give her cousin the benefit of the doubt and not tar him with the same brush as his father.

"Yep that would most certainly be true and I'm happy to hand out ass kicking's to anyone who looks like they need one. You want yours now or later?" She grinned to let him know she was messing with him and he laughed.

"Man I was told she was tough but damn! In answer to your question though I'd be happy to make you look bad in front of everyone, and I'll even go easy on you, it being your first time with a pro and all."

Yep, she definitely liked this new addition to her family and she thanked God that he met Haley when he did. The girl had obviously been the reason behind his complete turnaround.

Sitting at the table with her family and new friends Cassie smiled to herself, knowing that she had made the right decision in coming home. To hell with Dan Scott. No matter who tried to tell her otherwise, Cassie knew she was right where she belonged.

……………….

After a while, the rest of the guys left, Brooke wanting Lucas to herself for a while, Nathan and Haley having a dinner arrangement with Nathan's mom Deb, and Peyton leaving to see her father, who was home for the weekend. Karen and Cassie were left alone since Keith had gone to run an errand. Cassie began to help Karen close up.

"You know, since I'm back for good now and don't start school until fall, if you need I can help out around here." Cassie offered.

"Well I could use an extra hand I suppose you know having a wedding to plan and all that." Karen shared a grin with her future step-daughter.

"Ok so I don't get all mushy very often and I've kinda overstepped my quota since I came back so don't tell anyone I said this but I'm really happy that you and my Dad are finally getting married. Seriously I couldn't pick a better person for him if I sent out application forms and held auditions." She said getting a laugh from Karen.

"Cass you have no idea how much it means to me to hear you say that. The last thing I wanted was for you to think that Keith, Lucas and I were gonna be a family with no place for you." She said honestly. "Truthfully I was kind of worried you'd have grown to hate me. It must have been difficult seeing me and Keith so close after he split with your mom."

Cassie smiled sadly at the mention of her mom. She missed her mother dearly and she always would. But her mom and dad had decided to part long before Cassie was even old enough to understand what was happening. She'd been two years old and although she didn't know much at the time, from what her mother and father had told her the split had been amicable, both feeling that they had grown to be friends more than husband and wife. They had made the decision to part whilst Cassie was still young as they felt that if they had stayed together they would begin to resent each other and neither of them wanted that to happen. So they had gone their separate ways but had stayed close friends, meaning that Cassie never had to feel a difference as her father was always there to see her during the week and taking her for weekends and holidays. As she'd grown she noticed that they were spending a lot of their time with Lucas and Karen and although many children would have been upset at the idea of another woman in their father's life, Cassie had loved Karen from the moment she met her.

"You'd think so. I guess for a lot of kids it feels that way but honestly to me it always just felt normal. My mom and dad split when I was too young to really know what was happening so I grew up not knowing any different. Though they weren't together they always got on great and my Dad made sure that I knew that he still loved me more than anything. So when we started spending more and more time with you and Lucas I didn't really feel like I was losing him so much as I was gaining a brother and a second mom."

Karen was in awe at the level of maturity this girl had always displayed, even at such an early age. The reference to her as a second mom had not been lost on her and she was nothing short of thrilled that Cassie thought of her that way. Without another word she pulled her step-daughter in for a hug.

Cassie returned the hug and then pulled back and looked at Karen, who now had tears glistening in her eyes. "Oh jeez, ok time to stop with the mushy stuff now before we both end up bawling our eyes out." She joked. Then turning serious for a moment she said, "Listen, while we're on the subject of the wedding I just wanted to say that, uh, well we're gonna be living together soon and although you think I'm an angel right now, my dad will tell you I can be quite the handful at times. I just want you to know that if I ever step out of line or do anything you don't agree with, you don't have to be afraid to tell me or put me in my place. Treat me the same as you would Lucas. I promise I won't go all angsty step-daughter on you."

Appreciating the gesture, and the acceptance of her role as step-mother, Karen laughed. "Well thanks for being so accepting but you might want to discuss that with Lucas before you give me permission to keep you in line. If he heard what you were saying now he'd probably think you were crazy. I'm no soft touch."

Cassie rolled her eyes and laughed. "Great, I guess I should really start thinking before I speak. I take it all back please don't ground me." She joked.

"Nope too late, you said it now you can't take it back."

"Damn!" Still laughing, Cassie finished up putting all the chairs on top of the tables and threw the dishcloth back in its usual place behind the counter. "Okay well if everything's done I'm gonna head home. Dad should be back now."

No sooner had the words left her mouth, when the door opened and Keith entered. Cassie rolled her eyes. "You're doing the over protective Dad thing again aren't you. I could have walked you know, it's really not that far."

Choosing to ignore her smart remark he said a quick goodnight to Karen, before ushering her out the door to where his car was waiting. It would take some getting used to having her father around to look out for her, but Cassie had to admit it was a nice feeling. After her mom had died she'd sworn that she would always look out for herself. But that had been five years ago and although she'd never admit it to anyone, she'd become pretty tired of having no-one to lean on every once in a while.


	3. The Brilliant Dance

_Disclaimer – See Chapter 1._

_Ok so Cassie has been officially introduced and we've delved a bit into her background. I know you guys are probably wanting to see more of the other characters and wondering about the pairings. Well this story is mainly gonna be centred around Cassie and Keith and their relationship however there will be some Brucas, Naley and if I'm feeling really nice (depends how much you guys want it) I may even bring back Jake and throw in some Jeyton. Ha, who am I kidding of course I'll be bringing back Jake. Jeyton rules. Any suggestions on who I should pair Cassie with? I'm thinking possibly Marcus but I'm not sure. _

**Chapter 3 – The Brilliant Dance**

"What are you thinking?" Brooke lifted her head up from her boyfriend's chest as they lay quietly on the sofa in his living room. She knew Lucas inside out and she could tell by the expression on his face that he was plotting something.

Her voice pulled him from his thoughts and he looked down at her smiling. "I was just thinking about Cassie. She's been back almost a week now and I just thought it'd be nice if we did something special for her you know. I mean yeah she hangs out with us a the River Court and Tric but we never really did anything to really welcome her home. We were always really close when we were younger and honestly I missed her like crazy when she left. She was the closest thing I had to a sister and I just really wanna let her know that I'm glad she's back."

Brooke, ever the event planner and always looking for an excuse to celebrate sat up suddenly, startling Lucas. "Ooh we should totally throw her a party."

Lucas laughed, "How did I know you would come up with that?"

"Maybe because you know I have the best ideas! Come on it's perfect. Your mom would definitely let us have Tric. She loves Cassie. I know she'll go for the idea. In fact let's stop by the café and run the idea by her. Cassie won't be there until around three for her shift right?"

The glint in Brooke's eye that always appeared when she had reason to party was back with a vengeance. They hadn't thrown a party since last summer and she was beginning to get withdrawal symptoms.

"Jeez you're keen. I mean I know you love parties but I don't think I've seen you this fired up in ages. It's kinda sexy." He grinned, raising one eyebrow seductively.

"Really?" Brooke smirked leaning in for a kiss "Mental note to self, plan more parties." She teased. Then turning serious for a moment she said, "Seriously Luke I've seen how happy you and Keith and your mom have been since Cassie arrived. After everything we've all been through this last month it's good to see you happy again. Plus I know how much Cassie means to you and what's important to you is important to me. I really wanna do this for her. For both of you."

In that moment Lucas fell a little bit more in love with his girlfriend. On the surface she often came across as self-centred and shallow. Lucas knew different. He saw the real Brooke Davis. "Have I told you lately how amazing you are?" He said, brushing a stray lock of hair away from her face so he was able to look right into her eyes.

"Yes but I never tire of hearing it." She joked, placing a soft kiss on his lips before pulling him to his feet. "Come on we better get a move on. If I remember correctly Peyton mentioned that there wasn't anything on at Tric tonight so maybe if we work fast we can organise it as a surprise for tonight. We've got work to do."

In less time than it took Lucas to get showered and changed, Brooke had called Peyton, Haley and Nathan, and Mouth and asked them to meet her and Lucas at the café in ten minutes for some emergency planning. She smiled to herself excitedly. This was going to be truly awesome.

……………………..

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she tried unsuccessfully to suppress her laughter. "Oh my God. You look so ridiculous. I can't wait to show this to Karen and Luke. You're so never living this down."

Keith made a grab for the camera phone his daughter had used to slyly snap a picture of him covered in tomato ketchup. What had started as the simple task of having lunch with his daughter, had quickly turned into a disaster as the ketchup bottle had exploded in his hands, conveniently missing Cassie and everything else at the table but him.

Cassie snatched the phone away just in time, backing away so he couldn't reach her while she teased him mercilessly.

"Oh…ok smart ass so you think this is funny huh?"

When she saw her father reach for the ketchup bottle she knew exactly what was coming. She backed away even further, placing her cell phone on the kitchen counter as she prepared to make a run for it. "You wouldn't dare." She said, regretting the words as soon as they had left her mouth.

Keith raised an eyebrow at his daughter. "Really? You sure about that?"

He took a step towards her and it was then that Cassie noticed that he had cleverly placed himself between her and the door. She had no escape.

Without warning he dove toward her, but she managed to duck past him making a run for the door. Unfortunately he was quicker and he caught her around the waist with one arm, emptying the contents of the ketchup bottle over her head.

Realising her mistake too late, Cassie could only watch in mock fury as her father swiftly picked up his own cell phone and quickly snapped a shot of his own.

"Oh my God! I can not believe you actually just did that. It's in my hair and everything." She tried her best to act annoyed but the look on his face was enough to send her into a fit of giggles again.

"You asked for it. Tip for the future, never dare me honey. It's not a wise idea." He said through his own laughter.

A knock at the door quickly put an end to their laughter as both contemplated how the hell they were supposed to answer the door covered in ketchup.

Keith was the first to give in. "Go get cleaned up. I'll see who it is." He offered as he attempted to rid his hair of the sticky red substance using a dish cloth.

Satisfied that he looked as presentable as he possibly could without showering, he opened the door to a very impatient looking Brooke Davis accompanied by Peyton Sawyer, as usual. When he saw the girls' expressions change from slight impatience to utter confusion he knew he had failed in his attempt to remove all the ketchup.

"Get into a fight with a ketchup bottle lately?" Brooke quipped.

"Something like that. What can I do for you girls?" He replied, swiftly changing the subject. He was sure they find out the whole embarrassing story courtesy of his daughter later.

Brooke and Peyton entered the kitchen, taking a seat at the small table. "Is Cassie home?" Brooke spoke first.

"Yeah but she's in the shower."

"Great, uh we need to ask a favour. We need your help over at Tric, but we need to keep Cassie away so Peyton's gonna ask her to hang out until her shift at the café."

They had decided that Peyton was the best person to act as a decoy since Lucas was needed at Tric. As Brooke had predicted, Cassie and Peyton had pretty much hit it off straight away, both being into many of the same things such as music and art. Cassie couldn't draw to save her life but she still held an interest in art and had studied it in depth throughout high school. Cassie and Peyton had hung out a couple of times over the last week while the others were off doing couple things. They had become quite close despite the short amount of time they had known each other and they had shared tales from each others past, Peyton filling Cassie in on everything from the brief love triangle between her, Lucas and Brooke two years ago, which Cassie had only heard bits and pieces of in her emails from Lucas, to the situation with Jake. Cassie, although not normally a talker, had shared details of her own past, including her mother's death and her decision to spend the last five years at boarding school. So it wouldn't be anything unusual for Peyton to come over to hang out.

Keith eyed the girls in confusion. "Uh, ok, what's going on?"

Brooke quickly explained. "Well Lucas and I were talking this morning and he was saying that he felt bad that we hadn't really done anything to give Cassie a proper welcome home. So I suggested that we throw her a party. Karen's already agreed to let us have Tric tonight but we need to get set up without Cassie finding out about it. Karen's helping now but she needs to be back at the café in time for Cassie's shift cause she doesn't want to leave her alone just yet but we apparently need an adult there with there being alcohol lying around. Frankly I'm hurt that we can't be trusted but whatever, will you help us?"

Keith didn't know what to say. He knew how amazing Cassie was to him, but he was biased. Although he had expected her to get along just fine with everyone, he was surprised and thrilled at the extent of the welcome that the group was working to give her. Before he could reply however, Cassie appeared in the doorway, showered and dressed in record time.

"What's going on?" She asked in confusion when the discussion promptly ended at her entry.

Peyton spoke up. "Hey, oh I was just bored and wondered if you felt like a quick trip to the mall before your shift. There's a new Keane CD that I've been dying to get my hands on."

Cassie shrugged, "Sure sounds cool. Brooke, you coming?"

Brooke froze, "Uh…no…I uh have a…thing that I need Keith's help with, yeah." She stuttered, earning her a glare from Peyton.

Cassie looked from one girl to the other and then to her father, sensing that something wasn't quite right. When their faces gave nothing away, Cassie gave up and ran up to her room to get her purse.

"Nice going genius!" Peyton admonished, swatting her best friend lightly on the arm.

Before any of them could comment further, Cassie reappeared and she and Peyton left for the mall.

Once they were out of sight, Brooke dragged Keith out of the house and they headed over to Tric.

……………………………

"Down a bit on the left, no too far, up, up, down a bit…"

Lucas gave a defeated sigh, "Mom, seriously I'm in danger of losing the use of both my arms if I don't get this damn thing up soon.

The banner which Peyton and Haley had designed at the last minute when they had heard about the party was proving to be a nightmare to hang up, especially with his mom directing him as to where it should go.

"Oh suck it up boy this was your idea." She replied jokingly earning herself a mock scowl from her son.

"Technically the party was Brooke's idea. All I said was that we should do something to give Cass a real welcome home. So by your standards she should be up here trying to hang this thing."

"Excuse you. Brooke Davis does not climb ladders for anyone. This party is my brainchild and you, boyfriend, are just a worker bee." Brooke said, putting Lucas firmly in his place, much to the amusement of Keith, who had arrived with her.

Within less than two minutes of her arrival, the orders had been given and the 'worker bees' had been put to work.

…………………….

The mall was reasonably quiet considering it was the middle of summer vacation. Peyton and Cassie browsed leisurely through the CD displays, amazed at the similarities in their tastes.

"You actually got Jimmy Eat World _and _Fall Out Boy to play at Tric? Damn I totally should have come home last year. My timing always sucked."

Suddenly an idea dawned on Peyton. "Gimme a sec while a make a quick phonecall." She said, excusing herself.

Cassie nodded and continued to flick through the CD's, picking up the latest Nada Surf album. Peyton returned a few moments later, and Cassie could have sworn there was something different about her. She had an almost smug glint in her eye and it looked like she was trying her hardest not to crack a grin. Cassie chose not to question it, but thinking back to Brooke's strange behaviour only a couple of hours ago, she knew something was going on.

She was distracted from the thought by Peyton pointing out that they had to make a move so that Cassie could make it back in time for her shift at the café. Making their purchases, they quickly left the mall.

……………………….

Several hours later, Tric was almost prepared for Cassie's surprise welcome party. Almost.

"Nathan, we're not playing Wu Tang Clan, no way." Haley blew out a frustrated breath as her husband continuously picked out music that she couldn't even bear the thought of.

"You know, I'm starting to think you were right when you made that fuss about our CD collections after we got married. Maybe we are doomed to fail." He teased.

"Don't even joke about it Nathan, it wasn't funny." She huffed.

"Really? I thought it was pretty funny." He shot back.

Seeing her scowl, he wrapped his arms around her from behind, and gave in. "Tell you what. Why don't you pick out the music since you're the resident expert and all."

Knowing he was teasing but choosing to take his comment as a compliment, Haley was only too quick to agree, throwing out almost all the previous choices that Nathan had made.

He chuckled to himself as he let his wife get on with picking the music, content just to sit and watch her as she worked. He loved how her eyes seemed to light up whenever she was working with or around music. He promised himself that one day, when they had finished high school, he would make sure Haley had another chance to follow her dream, only this time with him right by her side.

"Ok," she said finally after spending at least another half hour on the music choice. "Ok yeah we're all done. Hey Brooke music's picked out and queued up to play."

Brooke's excitement was growing by the minute. It was almost time to start. The club was decorated, the food was ready, finger food of course considering they'd had very little time to make it and hadn't been able to make it at the café since Cassie was there, and now the music was ready. Karen had arrived, making her excuses and leaving Cassie to close up. The plan was that Keith would go pick Cassie up under the pretence of taking her to dinner but would actually bring her to Tric. Guests had started arriving, including the guys from the River Court, the cheerleading squad, including, much to Brooke's annoyance, one Rachel Gattina, the guys from the basketball team and of course Whitey. They were officially ready to roll.

………………….

For the tenth time in the last half hour, Cassie checked the clock. Ten after seven. Something weird was definitely going on. Karen had left over an hour ago and since then Cassie hadn't seen anyone. Not Lucas or Haley or even her father who for the last week had stopped by to pick her up every time she was working.

Less than a second after she checked the clock, the door opened and her father walked in.

"Hey sweetie, you ready to go? I was thinking we could maybe eat out for dinner tonight. I know this great place down near the beach. What d'ya say?"

"Sure" She smiled, collecting her bag from behind the counter and grabbing the keys to lock up.

The car ride back to Tric was quiet as Keith anticipated his daughter's reaction to the surprise that awaited her. He knew she would be thrilled.

Cassie looked up when she noticed the car had stopped outside of Tric. "Why are we stopping here?"

"I just need to go in and pick up Karen and Lucas, you wanna come in, they might not be ready just yet."

Thinking nothing of her father's comment, Cassie exited the car and made her way up the steps to the club. Keith hung back slightly as she approached the door.

Cassie opened the door to the club and noticed that all the lights were out. That was strange. She could have sworn her dad said…..

Suddenly the room was flooded with light and a chorus of 'Surprise' filled the room. Cassie stood rooted to the spot, not able to comprehend the sight before her. She was pretty sure it wasn't her birthday and she couldn't think of any other reason why there would be a surprise party going on seemingly in her honour.

Lucas and Brooke appeared in front of her and she found herself wrapped up in their arms as they each hugged her.

"What's uh, what's going on guys?" She asked, still totally confused.

"Well see," Lucas spoke up. "I was thinking that you've been home a week now and yet we haven't really given you a proper welcome back. Then Brooke came up with the idea that we should have a party to celebrate you being home and, well here we are."

Cassie was speechless, although she knew her family had missed her, she never for a moment thought that they would organise something as big as this to welcome her back. She'd been accepted into the group quicker than she had even expected and now they were throwing her a party.

A hush fell over the room as the guests waited for her reaction. "Wow, uh, I don't know what to say. I mean, I knew my family missed me but jeez what a way to tell a girl." The crowd laughed at this comment. "I had a feeling something strange was going on when people started acting weird earlier but I never expected this. Thank you everyone for coming, especially those of you who don't know me, though what does it matter, a party's a party right?" She joked. "Finally I like to thank Lucas and Brooke and the guys for organising this and also my Dad and Karen, who I know had something to do with it." She narrowed her eyes at her father who simply smiled proudly at his little girl. "Ok well I guess the only thing that's left to say is…."

She was cut off by Peyton who appeared on stage holding a microphone. "Actually Cass, there's a little more to the surprise. Ladies and Gentlemen please welcome back for the third time this year, Fall Out Boy!"

The curtains on stage opened and sure enough, Fall Out Boy began playing on stage right in front of Cassie's eyes.

"No freaking way!" Cassie said in total disbelief. Peyton had made her way over to Cassie and the guys and laughed at the expression on Cassie's face. "How the hell did you pull this off?" Cassie asked.

"Uh, well I'm kinda dating Pete and they played a gig in Charlotte last night. Tonight was their night off before heading out for their next gig, so I convinced them to come and join the party and maybe play a set. They were all for it."

"Wow! Well what the hell are we still standing around here for. I've been hearing for years how this place is famous for its parties, and this one is all for me. So let's party!"

Nobody needed telling twice and the small talk abruptly ended, allowing the party to really begin.

………………………

Almost three hours later the party was in full swing. Fall Out Boy had played their set and were now mingling in with the crowd enjoying the night. Keith watched his daughter as she went from crowd to crowd, chatting and laughing with the guests. Her expression, he noticed, was the picture of happiness. She looked like she didn't have a care in the world right then and that brought a smile to his face. The last week had gone by smoothly. Neither him nor Cassie had had anymore run-ins with Dan, which Keith was thankful for, though not willing to get his hopes up just yet. Maybe he had overreacted by worrying about Cassie being near his brother after all.

He thought about all the years he'd missed out on. Sure he saw her when he could but it was only ever a summer here and there. Having her home and knowing that it was for good felt amazing. He realised as he watched her that he wanted to be there for her senior year of high school. He wanted to see her go to the prom and be there for her graduation. And now he would be able to do it with Karen by his side and also see his daughter, and the boy who he had always considered a son, graduate together. Nothing could possibly make him happier at that moment.

He felt a hand on his arm and turned to see Karen at his side. She handed him a drink and he slipped his arm around her waist.

"She seems to be enjoying herself." Karen said, watching Cassie laugh and joke around with Peyton.

"Yeah she does," He smiled, his eyes never leaving his little girl. He noticed that two members of the band had approached and seemed to be asking the girls to dance. He tensed as he watched his daughter being led to the dance floor.

Karen laughed lightly, "Easy there Dad!" She joked. "They're just dancing. I'm sure it'll be ok. Let her have her fun."

Hesitantly, he turned his eyes away from Cassie as he tried his hardest to keep himself from walking over and cutting in. He knew she was seventeen now and would be meeting and dating boys but he couldn't help the protective streak in him.

Pretty soon however, the song had ended and Cassie made her way over to Karen and her Dad.

"This party rocks!" She said, throwing her arms around her father. "Thank you for this."

"Well actually it was all Brooke and Lucas's idea. Karen and I just helped get set up. I'm glad you're enjoying yourself though."

"I don't care who did what, you guys are all awesome. I never expected anything like this when I decided to come back."

"It's nothing less than you deserve honey. I know I've probably said this a hundred times already but it really is great to have you home." He said lovingly. Then over her shoulder he nodded to Haley who queued up the song he had requested earlier and then gave the thumbs up to Lucas, who tapped the microphone, getting the crowd's attention.

"Ok guys you're all aware that we're having this party to welcome Cassie back to town. She's been away for five years and those of you who know Keith, will know that he can get quite sappy at the best of times so it won't surprise you that he has requested a special father/daughter dance. So can you all please clear the floor so that we can get on with this cause I can see that Cass has already turned ten shades of red." He laughed winking at her.

The crowd moved off the dance floor and Keith turned to his daughter, "I made him do that so you couldn't refuse. I know what you're like when it comes to the attention being focused on you. Come on." He held out his hand and she took it, allowing him to lead her to the floor.

When the intro to the familiar song started to play, tears sprang to Cassie's eyes. It was the song he sent to her a few years back along with one of his letters when he wasn't able to fly out for the summer. She'd listened to it every night before going to sleep and it reminded her that although he hadn't been able to make it out to see her, she was still on his mind and he still missed her.

_Well I want you to notice_

_To notice when I'm not around_

_And know that your eyes see straight through me_

_And speak to me without a sound._

She felt him hug her a little tighter as the chorus began to play.

_I want to hold you_

_Protect you from all of the things I've already endured_

_I want to show you_

_Show you all the things that this life has in store for you._

_And I'll always love you_

_The way that a father should love his daughter._

The tears that had threatened previously, now made their way slowly down her cheeks and she rested her head on her father's shoulder.

_When I walked out this morning_

_I cried as I walked out the door_

_Cried about how long I'd be away for_

_Cried about leaving you all alone._

The words of the second verse were all too familiar to Keith. He thought back to the times he had visited her in Ohio, and how hard it had been for him to leave her when it was time to go home. He felt his heart flip as he realised he'd never have to do that again.

_I want to hold you_

_Protect you from all of the things I've already endured_

_I want to show you_

_Show you all the things that this life has in store for you._

_And I'll always love you_

_The way that a father should love his daughter._

_Sweet Zoe Jane_

_Sweet Zoe Jane_

"Cassie Mae fits into that chorus nicely don't you think?" Keith joked and Cassie laughed lightly against his shoulder.

"It fits perfectly." She replied as they swayed to the music.

_So I wanted to say this_

_Cause I wouldn't know where to begin_

_To explain to you what I have been through_

_To explain where you're Daddy has been._

The words were sobering as Keith was reminded that he still had to explain to his daughter about the fire at the dealership and the fact that Dan believed his own brother had tried to kill him. She needed to know.

_So I want to hold you_

_Protect you from all of the things I've already endured_

_And I want to show you_

_Show you all the things that this life has in store for you_

_And I'll always love you_

_The way that a father_

_Should love his daughter._

_Sweet Zoe Jane_

_Sweet Zoe Jane_

As the song ended, Keith hugged his daughter and whispered, "I do you know."

She looked up into his eyes, confused for a moment. "You do what?"

"I love you." He said seriously. "More than anything."

Smiling brightly she nodded and replied, "I know. I love you too Dad." And as father and daughter left the floor, Cassie couldn't imagine it being possible to be any happier than she was at that moment. Nothing could possibly bring her down.


	4. The Pros And Cons Of Breathing

_Disclaimer – See chapter 1._

_A/N – Warning – Do not get too used to the fluffy, happy chapters. Anyone who has read any of my other stories knows that it's not usually long before the drama sets in. _

**Chapter 4 – The Pros And Cons Of Breathing.**

Trees and buildings rushed by in a blur and Fall Out Boy's song 'Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying' blared from the earphones of Cassie's I-Pod as she continued on her usual morning run. Every day since she started at boarding school five years ago she got up at 7am and went running. The good thing about Tree Hill was the weather was a little better than Ohio. She'd persevered through rain, hail and freezing cold temperatures and it was refreshing to be able to run while enjoying a perfect sunrise.

She stopped for a moment, flopping down onto the deserted sandy beach, watching the waves roll in and thinking back to the party the night before. She smiled as she remembered the dance she had shared with her father and the look in his eyes as he told her he loved her. It had been a truly amazing evening.

A shadow fell over her patch of sand and she looked up, shielding her eyes from the sun, to see who had dared to interrupt the peace of the morning. When she saw the man looking down at her she couldn't believe her bad luck. She stood slowly, meeting his gaze with steely, cold eyes.

"Following me now Uncle Dan?" She said sarcastically.

He chuckled, his eyes never leaving her face. "Don't flatter yourself sweetheart. Actually I thought maybe my favourite niece had come by for a visit."

It was then that she realised where she had stopped. She glanced up at the beach house and then back at her Uncle. "Oh that's right I forgot you live here now. Your wife finally came to her senses and kicked you out. That must suck."

He smirked and stepped closer to her menacingly. "Careful little girl. Daddy's not here to protect you this time."

Cassie took a step back, trying to keep a distance between them but for each step she took, Dan stepped forward. Suddenly she felt her back hit something and looked down to see that she had backed right into the fence that led up to the house.

"Not so smart now are you?" He taunted.

"What the hell is your problem? I know your life sucks but that's no reason to make it your mission to ruin everyone else's happiness. Back off my Dad and stay the hell away from me." She turned to walk away but was stopped when his strong hand gripped her arm, pinning her back against the fence.

"Give me one good reason why I should lay off my brother after what he's done. He's got it coming sweetie believe me, you're just an added bonus." The smirk had disappeared and his expression was deadly serious.

Cassie tried to pull away but Dan's grip only tightened, causing her to wince in pain. He caught this and the satisfied smirk he usually wore reappeared. "Oh I'm sorry, am I hurting you?"

She looked down at his hand on her arm then back up into his eyes. "Get your hands off me or I swear…"

"You'll what? Come tough girl you'll what? You're quite the wise ass until you're on your own. I warned you that you didn't know what you were messing with. You really should have listened." He looked down at the girl who he knew would be the perfect way of getting at the brother who had made the mistake of trying to kill him. Unbeknownst to anyone he had witnessed the loving dance Keith had shared with his daughter at Tric the evening before. They really should invest in better security at that place, anyone could just walk in. He'd seen the pair on the dance floor, oblivious to all around them and he had known then that nothing would hurt Keith more than if something was to happen to his precious little girl.

He released his grip on his niece, knowing that he had used just enough force to leave a nice bruise that his brother would no doubt pick up on later.

Without another word, Cassie brushed past her Uncle, not willing to let him see just how much he had actually managed to rattle her. There was no doubt as to the threat in his voice. What had he meant by her father having it coming after what he'd done? She decided the only way to find out would be to get it straight from the horse's mouth and she headed back towards the home she shared with him. If she was going to become part of this grudge her Uncle had, then she at least deserved to know why.

When she arrived home she found her father just finishing up serving breakfast. He looked up and smiled as she entered. "Hey honey, how was your run?"

"Confusing." She replied simply and only then did he notice the troubled expression on his daughter's face.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

She got right to the point. "What's going on with you and Dan? And I don't mean just the fact that he hates you. What's really going on?"

Keith sighed, knowing that this moment would eventually come. "Remember when I told you last year about the fire at the dealership?" At her nod, he continued. "Well, it wasn't an accident. It was started deliberately. Someone poisoned him and then set the place on fire. He would have died if Lucas hadn't pulled him out. Anyway he somehow got his hands on a videotape of me buying the same brand of whisky that was used to poison him and now he's convinced it was me."

Cassie's eyes widened at the revelation. "And um, was it?" She asked, while hoping to God that she already knew the answer.

"No!" Keith shook his head and Cassie could see in his eyes that he was telling the truth. He had never been able to lie to her. "No it wasn't honey," he took a deep breath and continued, deciding the whole truth was better, "but it could have been."

Cassie said nothing but eyed her father in confusion.

"After what happened with Jules I was pretty low. Spending the summer with you helped but after that I still had to return home and see the misery my brother was causing the people I loved everyday. He made Karen and Lucas's life hell and he was the main reason I felt I had to keep you away from home. Somebody had to end it. So I bought a gun."

Cassie could take no more and her already weak legs gave way at the thought of her father plotting the murder of his own brother. She sank down onto a chair, unable to speak.

"But I couldn't go through with it. I was about to but then I thought of you and I couldn't stand the thought of you having to live with the fact that your father was a murderer. That same night I got a phone call from Deb. She told me everything. She couldn't take it anymore and had decided that it had to end. So she poisoned the drink and started the fire. She wanted to hand herself in but I talked her out of it. It would've devastated Nathan to find out his mother had tried to kill his father. So I left town making it look like it was me. But then Lucas figured it out and Deb called me. That's when I came back. Dan still thinks it was me." He knelt in front of his daughter and looked up into her eyes. "I know this is hard for you to hear but it's not something you need to be concerned with honey ok?" He said, placing his hands softly on her arms in reassurance.

Cassie winced when his hand made contact with the sensitive area which had now begun to bruise from Dan's earlier assault.

Keith frowned when he saw his daughter's reaction and then for the first time he noticed the dark bruise that had begun to form on her upper arm. His eyes darkened with fury when he put two and two together, realising that it wasn't a coincidence that the question had only come up since his daughter had returned from her morning run.

"What's this?" He asked though he was pretty sure he already knew the answer. "What happened? Did he do this to you?"

Cassie nodded slightly and before she had a chance to explain, her father stormed toward the door. "Where are you going? Dad please don't." She pleaded but her words fell on deaf ears as the door slammed behind him. "Shit!" She muttered to herself, picking up the phone and dialling the first number she could think of.

Karen picked up on the third ring. "Hey Karen it's me. Um, I have a bit of a problem."

"Cassie. What's up honey?" Karen queried with obvious concern.

"Uh, well I kinda had another run in with my Uncle this morning, only this one actually left a mark."

"WHAT!" Karen exclaimed. "Are you ok? What happened?"

"Yeah I'm fine but uh, Dad saw the bruise and hit the roof. He stormed out and I have a feeling I know where he went. I don't want him to do anything stupid." She said, hoping Karen understood what she meant.

"Say no more sweetie, I'll take care of it."

Cassie thanked her and hung up the phone, hoping that Karen got there before things got out of hand.

……………………….

Dan looked up as he heard the door to his office open and then close again rather loudly. When he saw his brother standing before him, looking like he was ready to kill, he smirked. "Big brother. What can I do for you?"

Before he knew what was happening, Keith had yanked Dan from his chair and pinned him against the wall of his office violently.

"You know damn well why I'm here. Where the hell do you come off putting your hands on my daughter? I know you have a grudge against me and to be honest I don't give a damn but do not bring Cassie into this. She's just a kid."

Dan looked smugly back at his brother. "Well maybe you should have thought of that before you tried to kill me. Not nice when someone interferes with your family is it brother?"

Keith knew he couldn't continue to let Dan think he had tried to kill him. He wouldn't drop Deb in it but he couldn't risk his daughter's safety. "As much as I wish it had been Danny, it wasn't me who tried to kill you. But I swear, if you ever go near my daughter again, you'll wish whoever did, had succeeded."

Not believing a word of what his brother said and unfazed by his idle threats, Dan continued to taunt him. "Oh, strong words coming from such a pathetic man. What was it, boozy? Couldn't take knowing that your beloved Karen still wanted me?"

A laugh from behind them caused the brothers to look around, seeing Karen entering the office and closing the door. "I think maybe that poison affected your brain more than you realise. Keith is ten times the man you could ever hope to be and you know it. Lucas hates you, I despise you, even your wife and the son you actually bothered to raise can't stand you. Quite an achievement there Dan." Looking at Keith she said, "Leave him, he's not worth it. Cassie's fine but she's worried about you. You should be there with her."

Knowing she was right Keith let go of his brother and shook his head at him in disgust. "I'll only tell you one more time, stay the hell away from my family."

As he turned to walk away Dan's voice stopped him. "Don't you mean _my _family. Karen was my whore first remember."

The next sound to be heard in the room was the sharp crack of Keith's fist connecting squarely with Dan's jaw, sending him sprawling back into the wall.

Karen put her hand on Keith's arm, "Keith don't, please."

Keith looked at his brother one last time before turning and, with his arm around Karen, leaving the office, slamming the door behind him.

Dan touched a finger to his lip, wiping away the blood that had begun seeping from it. Keith would keep. No-one messed with Dan Scott and got away with it. No-one. He would make damn sure that his brother paid dearly for what he had done.

………………………..

When she heard the kitchen door open, Cassie leapt up from her seat next to Lucas on the sofa. Karen had sent him over to make sure Cassie was ok while she went to find Keith.

Lucas followed Cassie into the kitchen, where Karen was busy cleaning the blood from Keith's hand where he had hit Dan.

"My God, Dad what happened? Are you ok?" Cassie asked upon seeing his bloody hand.

Keith eyed the bruise on his daughter's arm, which now could be recognised clearly as a hand mark. "It should be me asking you that question sweetie."

"I'm fine." Seeing the doubt in the eyes of the three other people occupying her kitchen she rolled her eyes, "Honestly I'm ok, it's just a bruise. It doesn't hurt that much."

Keith pulled her in for a hug. "I'm so sorry you had to get dragged into this Cass. I never meant for you to end up involved. Maybe you would have been better off staying in Ohio."

Though she knew he hadn't meant it to, the comment hurt Cassie and tears filled her eyes. "Don't say that. I love being back here with you and Karen and Lucas. And I'm damned if I'm gonna let Dan spoil that for me." She said furiously.

"I'm sorry honey, I only meant…"

"I know what you meant. It's ok." She said, hugging him again.

They moved to sit around the table, Keith never leaving his daughter's side. He wasn't quite convinced by her tough exterior and constant assurance of 'I'm fine'. He knew Dan could be intimidating at the best of times but on a deserted beach with no-one there to help her he shuddered to think how scared she must have been and what could have happened. He wouldn't put anything past his brother and it irked him that Cassie had been thrust unwillingly into the centre of the feud.

"Look, let's just forget about Dan for today ok. You've warned him off now Dad and we'll deal with him again if and when we have to. Hey anyway you and Karen haven't really had any time together since I got back why don't you two go out tonight, have some fun of your own, and stop worrying about me." She nudged her Dad playfully.

"Uh, I don't know if it's such a good idea for you to be here alone after today honey." Keith said. Although he would love nothing more than to spend a little more time alone with Karen he wasn't too sure he was comfortable with leaving his daughter. Dan had been known to stoop as low as following them before. Keith remembered all too well the time not so long ago when he'd caught Dan sitting outside the café watching him, Karen and Lucas as they tried to enjoy a simple family dinner.

"I won't be alone, Lucas is gonna come over, right bro?"

Lucas narrowed his eyes at her, knowing she was plotting something. His suspicions were confirmed a moment later.

"I was thinking maybe we could invite the gang round and have a movie night. Peyton, Brooke and I can crash in dad's room, Nathan and Haley can share my room, since Luke is such a gentleman and all, he can take the pull out couch, and you can, you know, sleep over at Karen's." She said with a sly grin.

Lucas laughed at the way she had delivered the line as though it was the most normal thing in the world.

Keith and Karen shared an unsure look which Cassie was quick to pick up on.

"Oh come on, I can even run through the house rules. No drinking, no drugs, no sex, though you may need to remind Nathan and Haley of that one, um, no tattoos, no piercings, did I miss anything?" She asked smugly.

"Uh yeah, how about no way." Keith shook his head.

"Aww Dad come on, it's not like I'm gonna throw a huge party, it'll just be the gang, a couple of pizzas and some movies. Plus it'll be good for you and Karen to have some quality time together don't you think?"

Keith turned to Karen, "You think we can trust them not to burn the house down?"

"Doesn't matter, we're moving out soon anyway." Cassie interrupted with her usual quick wit, getting a laugh from everyone."

"I'm pretty sure we can trust them." Karen said finally, "And if not, we have the power to make their lives hell. It would be nice to go out and maybe catch a movie and have some dinner."

"Yeah I guess." With one final look at his daughter, Keith caved. "Ok go ahead and call the guys."

"Sweet! Lucas you run it by Brooke, Nathan and Haley, and Peyton and I will grab the movies and snacks." She ordered, reaching for the phone to call Peyton.

"Cool, actually I told Brooke I'd swing by early so I'll go ask her now." He said his goodbyes and left as Cassie finished up speaking to Peyton.

"Ok it's all arranged so there's no changing your mind now. Peyton's going to pick me up from the café at the end of my shift and we're gonna head to the video store. Speaking of shifts, shouldn't we be heading to the café about now. It's almost eleven, Haley will kill us if we're not there before the lunch rush."

Karen checked her watch and realised Cassie was right. "Oh God, I totally lost track of time. Yeah we better get moving."

…………………………….

"He did what!" Nathan couldn't believe his ears when Lucas filled him in on the events from earlier that morning. "That son of a bitch. I knew he was vicious but I never thought he stoop as low as that."

"Yeah well it's Dan. Keith was pretty mad. From what I hear he went down to Dan's office and really gave him a piece. Mom got there just in time to stop him beating the crap out of him."

"Shame, maybe it would've done him some good." Nathan opened the refrigerator and took out a soda for Lucas and one for himself. "So you're sure Keith's ok with us crashing at his place tonight?"

Lucas nodded, accepting the soda, "Yeah he's gonna stay over at my place. He and my mom are going on a date tonight. They haven't had the chance in a while with Cassie just getting back and all the drama with Dan. Cass thought it'd be good for them. I think so too."

"Yeah a date will do them good. I'm sure staying over at your moms will do Keith the world of good." Nathan teased. He was glad to have resumed his relationship with his brother. Although he'd been angry at Lucas for digging up dirt on his Dad after promising he would leave it alone, he knew why he'd done it. Nathan himself had thought on more than one occasion of finding some way of bringing his father down. Mainly to save his mom from all the pain and drama. So he could understand where Lucas was coming from.

"Oh! Dude that's my mom. I don't need that visual." Lucas said in disgust.

Nathan just laughed. "Man get over it. Its happening and you know it. Speaking of, I thought you were going by Brooke's this morning."

"Yeah I did, she's psyched about tonight and decided to go with Cass and Peyton to get movies and snacks so she and Peyton are heading over to the Café to wait for Cass to finish her shift."

………………………….

Cassie was just about to take a break when Peyton and Brooke walked in. "Hey guys, what's up?"

"Hey, we just thought we'd hang out here and wait for you to finish your shift so we could head over to get the movies for tonight. Brooke wants chick flicks but I said no way. I'm thinking total slasher-fest. What's your vote?" Peyton asked.

"Slasher-fest, totally, sorry Brooke, chick flicks suck."

"They do not! Slasher flicks are totally gross! Hey, speaking of gross, where the hell did you get that ugly thing on your arm?"

Karen looked up upon hearing the question, trying to judge Cassie's reaction. The girl simply shrugged nonchalantly.

"It was a gift from my favourite Uncle." She replied as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"No way! Mr Mayor-all-mighty did this?" Brooke's eyes widened while Peyton was stunned speechless.

"I'd be careful of your answer there if I were you Cass. Without proof that could be classed as slander." A voice said behind her.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" Karen spoke angrily from behind the counter.

"Afternoon to you too Karen. Maybe I'm mistaken but I was sure this was a public coffee house. Can't a guy get a cup of coffee around here?" Dan said smugly, obviously having taken no notice of his brother's warning earlier.

"A guy can yeah, you, on the other hand, can't. See that sign," Karen said, pointing to the 'right to refuse' sign on the counter. "That gives me the right to ask you to leave, so please do." She had now come around to the front of the counter to stand protectively between him and Cassie, who was flanked by Peyton and Brooke. Haley watched the scene from behind the counter, she knew what Dan was capable of, but she had always hoped, for Nathan's sake more than anything, that he would eventually let go of his grudge against the world and actually be a decent human being. Now she knew that wasn't possible.

Cassie rolled her eyes. Why couldn't this creep just leave her the hell alone? She was getting real tired of running into him at every turn. She knew he was doing it on purpose. He was playing with her, and her father, the same way he toyed with everyone else only she seemed to be getting it worse. Now that her father had explained, she knew why. She wasn't stupid. She knew Dan would see her as an easy target and the best way of getting at her father. She had just obviously underestimated how far he was willing to go.

Dan looked past Karen at Cassie, and she could see the cut on his lip where her Dad had obviously hit him. Normally she would have smirked but the look in his eyes made her uneasy. Nevertheless she stared right back at him, never even flinching. She would not allow this man to see any fear on her face.

"Back a week and you've already got practically the whole town falling over themselves to protect you. Let's just hope its enough." He said winking at her before glancing back at Karen and turning to leave.

After he'd left, Karen turned to Cassie who had sunk down onto one of the chairs, frustrated and frankly for the first time slightly scared. He had threatened her before but those threats had been vague whereas the threat that had come just now had been purposely obvious and more to the point he had said it in front of four witnesses. That worried Cassie. He obviously wasn't afraid that they would go to the police. But then of course he wasn't. He was the mayor. And he was nothing if not clever. She knew he'd be able to talk his way out of it in a second.

"Ok I think we should call your father. We can cancel tonight…." Karen began but Cassie cut her off.

"No Karen please. We can tell him tomorrow but I just really want to chill out tonight. I'm back for good now so I'm gonna have to get used to Dan being around. I don't want to have to change my plans every time I have a run in with him. If I do, if we do, then he wins. And I won't have that happen. My Dad's already stressing enough about this morning. He'll go crazy if he finds out he came in here so soon after he warned him to stay away." She pleaded to Karen with her eyes to just leave it for tonight.

"Ok I guess but we have to tell him tomorrow. I won't lie or keep secrets from him and he needs to know." Seeing Cassie's nod she relented. "Why don't you three take off now? This place is pretty quiet and Deb will be stopping by soon, she can help me close up."

Cassie nodded gratefully and the three left. Karen watched them go. Not sure that she was doing the right thing by keeping this from Keith. But she knew that Cassie was right. If Keith found out there's no way he would leave his daughter's side, and that wasn't fair on her. She deserved to be able to lead a normal life. And she'd be safe with everyone around. Karen trusted that they would look after her, especially Lucas and Nathan. No-one knew what Dan Scott was capable of more than his sons, whose lives he had made a misery in different ways since they were born.

………………………

"You sure you're ok?" Peyton asked for like the tenth time since they left the café.

Cassie rolled her eyes and laughed. "Ok guys you seriously need to stop asking me that. Honestly I'm fine." She slid a Fall Out Boy CD into the CD player in Peyton's car and hit the volume button until she was sure the whole street would be able to hear every word of every song.

Peyton exchange glances with Brooke through the rear view mirror but decided to let the subject drop, knowing she wouldn't get anywhere anyway. She pulled into a space near the video store and they went to pick out the night's movies.

"How about Bridget Jones 1 and 2?" Brooke suggested.

"No!" Both Peyton and Cassie yelled at the same time causing Brooke to pout in the way that a little girl would if she wanted to get her own way.

"Brooke, the guys are never gonna go for a chick flick and Cassie and I hate them so that makes you the only one who wants to rent it. That's like five votes to one." Peyton pointed out.

"Hey, no fair you included Haley in that vote and we haven't even asked her."

Cassie couldn't contain her laugh. "Brooke, even if Haley voted yes, it would still be four votes to two. Bridget Jones is out."

As the three laughed together, Cassie felt herself relaxing. She knew she had her Dad and Karen as well as Lucas and now all the other guys as well. She wasn't scared so much as frustrated and slightly uneasy. She knew it was hurting her father to see Dan getting at her after she'd only been home a week. But that was what Dan wanted. So for her father's sake, she refused to let it rattle her.

Peyton was heading towards the opposite side of the store, but was looking back at Cassie and Brooke so she didn't see the figure walking directly toward her until it was too late. The pair collided and the movie cases he held in his hand flew in all directions.

"Oh God I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking I…" Peyton scrambled to pick up the movies she had caused the man to spill.

"It's ok." The voice spoke softly and Peyton froze.

Her breathing quickened and for a second she thought she would hyperventilate. She'd recognise that voice anywhere. Finally she lifted her eyes up to meet his.

"Jake." She said simply, not trusting her voice to say anymore.

"Hey Peyton." He replied, trying to judge her reaction to his return.

After her initial shock wore off she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around him in a fierce hug. He returned the gesture just a quickly.

Cassie noticed this from her place at the popcorn stand with Brooke who was still too absorbed in what flavour popcorn to pick to notice the goings on. Cassie nudged her lightly. "Hey, who's that guy with Peyton?"

Brooke looked up and her jaw dropped at the sight before her. "Oh my God! It's Jake." She rushed over to where her friend was standing, throwing her arms around the guy standing with her. "Jake, no way, what are you doing here?" She yelled excitedly.

Cassie sensed that Peyton wanted to ask the same question, only not with an audience. She grabbed Brooke's wrist. "Uh, we decided on Nightmare On Elm Street, Man On Fire for the guys and Wedding Crashers for laughs so we're good to go. We'll walk back to my place. Take your time and Peyton you're more than welcome to bring Jake to my place tonight if he doesn't have plans."

"Thanks Cass," Peyton nodded, grateful for the privacy and for Cassie's understanding. Then realising she was being rude she turned to Jake. "Oh sorry um Jake this is Cassie, Luke's sister."

Jake raised an eyebrow to this and Cassie decided to fill in the blanks. "Long story short, Keith is my Dad but since Keith is now engaged to Karen and has asked to adopt Lucas, he's pretty much my brother. I always thought of him that way anyway. I'll let Peyton fill you in on the rest. Come on Brooke." She said, heading for the door.

Brooke gave an excited wave and left with Cassie. Jake laughed and turned back to Peyton. "So since your girls have deserted you, how about a coffee? I'm about to go on my break."

About to question the fact that he worked there she caught herself and decided to save it until the were at the café. They had a lot of catching up to do.

……………………….

Dan watched his niece leave the video store from his position parked across the street. He had tested the waters and had found that his suspicions were correct. The best way of getting to his brother, was through that little spitfire of a daughter of his. Keith's reaction that morning hadn't scared him. Because beneath the anger and the threats, Dan had seen something else in his brother's eyes. Fear. Keith was scared for his daughter. And so he should be. Dan was through playing around. Soon enough he would show Keith just what it was like to have someone take away what was most important to him.


	5. Calm Before The Storm

_Disclaimer – See Chapter 1._

_A/N – As promised, the drama begins. But first we'll have a side order of Jeyton and some fun with the gang, as well as a little bit of Karen/Keith for the hell of it._

**Chapter 5 – Calm Before The Storm**

"So what's this about Lucas getting adopted?" Jake asked as he and Peyton walked side by side towards Karen's café.

"Oh uh, well it's pretty much just like Cassie said. Keith came back to Tree Hill a while back and he and Karen finally got it together. Apparently she asked him to marry her at our cheerleading competition, just like that. It's good though you know. Those two were meant to be together." She glanced at Jake when she said this, and found him staring right back at her.

"Yeah, I always said that when two people are meant to be it will happen, no matter what."

She knew he was no longer talking about Keith and Karen. For a long moment they stopped and just watched each other, their eyes locking and showing how much they had missed each other.

"Yeah." She agreed and finally broke the eye contact, continuing on the way to Karen's. As happy as she was to have him back, she still didn't know how long it was for. She decided the best way to find out was to simply come straight out and ask. "So uh, what brings you back to Tree Hill and did I hear you say you're working at the video store?"

He laughed. "Yeah um, well it took me a while but I managed to track Nikki to California. Once I found her it was pretty easy to get Jenny back, considering Nikki had pretty much kidnapped her. I got her back permanently just last month. I told you I'd come back once I found her. I couldn't stay away. This is my home. Anyway I just started at the video store this morning. My parents are thrilled to have Jenny and I home but I want to start looking for a place of my own you know. Jenny's getting older and I want somewhere where I can give her a room of her own and raise her properly."

Peyton nodded, understanding.

As they approached Karen's café Jake decided to take the plunge. He knew as soon as they entered the café they would have no chance of getting any privacy as people would be wanting to know when he got back and whether he was back for good and it would be endless questions until it was time to get back to work. He stopped in his tracks, turning Peyton towards him and looking directly at her.

"Look Peyton before we go in there and get interrupted I want to tell you something. Otherwise I may never have the guts to do it." Taking a deep breath he continued, "I know that when I left I told you to forget about me and move on but the truth is that every day I was away I hoped that you hadn't listened to me. I didn't just come home for Jenny or my parents. I came home for you. I'll totally understand if you moved on and met some…"

He was cut off by her lips crashing down onto his. He returned the kiss and wrapped his arms around her.

When she finally pulled back she smirked and said, "You talk too much, you know that?"

He laughed and pulled her close. "It's never too late to change that." He said as he leaned in to claim her lips again.

They stood that way for what seemed like eternity until finally the need for air forced them apart.

"It's good to have you back Jake." She smiled up at him.

"Well I'm glad you feel that way cause it's good to be back. And this time I don't plan on going anywhere."

Walking into the café hand in hand they were immediately greeted by Karen, Keith and Deb who were all thrilled to see Jake and were happy to hear that he was back for good.

Jake congratulated Keith and Karen on their engagement and the five made small talk until it was time for Jake to head back to the video store to finish up his shift, and Peyton to head over to Cassie's to get everything ready for their movie night. She gave Jake the address and he told her he'd be there.

……………………

A little after six Deb finally had managed to remove Karen and Keith from the café. Offering to close up and urging them to go prepare for their date and have a good time.

Keith drove Karen home so she could change.

However as soon as they got through the door to Karen's house, Keith, deciding he wanted to make the most of their night alone, pulled Karen into his arms and claimed her lips with his. They were all due to move into Karen's in a couple of days and once that happened there would probably be very little opportunity for alone time.

Karen pulled back from the kiss and looked into Keith's eyes. "Suddenly I don't feel much like going out." She grinned.

"Funny, me neither." Keith agreed as they collapsed together on to the sofa in Karen's living room.

…………………………

A knock at the door had Lucas jumping from his seat beside his girlfriend on the sofa in Cassie's living room. "Cool pizza's here."

"Jeez, hungry much?" Cassie teased from her position on the floor where she was currently setting up the DVD player so that they could start the first movie as soon as the pizza had arrived.

Haley and Nathan were in the kitchen preparing drinks for everyone while Peyton was cooking the popcorn.

Lucas opened the door, cash in hand, but stopped when he saw that it wasn't the delivery guy at the door.

"Jake, hey buddy I heard you were back." He greeted his friend.

"Hey Luke," Jake grinned. "Yeah I got back just last week. Ran into Peyton this morning, literally." He joked. "Anyway she told me to stop by."

"Yeah sure man come on in. So I guess you met my sister Cassie?"

"Briefly," Cassie answered, loving the fact that Lucas was introducing her as his sister. She shot Jake a smile. "Hey, um, Peyton's in the kitchen preparing popcorn but if I were you I'd grab yourself a spot in here while you can. It's gonna get kinda crowded and the best ones will go fast."

They had set up the living room so that everyone could get as comfortable as possible. There were two sofas, one of which had been pulled out into a bed, the footstool had been pushed up against the chair and a blow-up mattress had been placed on the floor between the two sofas. Finally, Cassie had thrown pillows and duvets on each of the makeshift beds. A movie night wasn't a movie night unless there was maximum comfort as far as she was concerned. In the middle of the room, she had left space to set up a table to hold the food and drinks.

"Oh! Shoot!" A frantic voice came from the kitchen.

Cassie left her spot on the floor to investigate and her loud laughter upon reaching the kitchen caused Lucas, Brooke and Jake to quickly follow.

Peyton had been in charge of cooking the popcorn but she had forgotten to cover the pan and now popcorn was flying in every direction possible. Cassie ducked as several pieces flew towards her but unfortunately Lucas and Jake weren't as quick and soon found themselves showered with popcorn seeds.

"Quick somebody grab a lid!" Peyton yelled, laughing, while at the same time trying to save the majority of the popcorn so that they would actually have some to eat.

Eventually, Cassie managed to dig out the lid for the pan Peyton was using and together they successfully salvaged a good proportion of the sugary snack.

A knock on the door for the second time that night indicated that the pizza had arrived and Lucas quickly went to collect it. Confused as to why he was receiving strange looks from the guy, Lucas promptly paid and closed the door.

"Uh, was that guy just checking me out?"

That was too much for Cassie and she doubled over laughing, followed closely by Brooke and Haley. Finally Brooke spoke up.

"Baby, I think you need to take a look in the mirror."

Lucas frowned and checked his reflection in the hallway mirror, a blush creeping up into his cheeks as he realised why the guy had been staring at him. The gel in his hair had caused the popcorn that had hit him a few moments before to stick and his head was covered in it. No wonder the guy had thought he was weird. He shook the seeds out of his hair and turned to the others who were unsuccessfully trying to stem their laughter.

"Ok, ok, very freaking funny guys, pizzas here, popcorns ready and the movie is queued up. So let's quit making fun of me and get this party started."

One by one they all filed into the living room. Lucas and Brooke claimed the pull out sofa while Nathan and Haley decided to go for the bed on the floor. It was a reminder of the cheerleading competition a few weeks ago where they had decided to ditch the bed in the hotel room in favour of the floor. Cassie claimed her favourite spot on the large chair and was snuggled under the duvet within seconds.

"Last one in hits the lights!" She yelled and Jake complied, plunging the room into darkness, the only light coming from the TV.

Once everyone was comfortable and had helped themselves to a slice of pizza, Cassie hit the play button and a comfortable silence fell over the room as the first movie began.

……………………..

Karen lay content in her fiancé's arms not wanting to disturb the peaceful silence that had fallen over the room. Although they hadn't even left the house, so far the night had been perfect. She was truly bowled over by the love she felt for this man. How was it possible that he was related to the man that was making all of their lives a misery? Keith was kind, and caring, and loving. He made her feel like a million dollars just by looking at her. She couldn't imagine ever wanting or needing anyone else for the rest of her life.

"Penny for them?" Keith whispered softly.

"What's that?" She asked, too deep in thought to really hear his words.

"Your thoughts, penny for them?"

She smiled, hugging him a little tighter. "I was just thinking about you actually."

"Figures, not really much else worth thinking about." He joked getting a playful slap on the arm from Karen.

"I was just thinking that I wish we had done this years ago. For the last fifteen years we've spent so much time together and yet still missed out on a lot you know?" She looked up into his eyes.

"Yeah I know what you mean. But I think life kept us together yet apart for a reason. Maybe now is just the right time for us. I know it feels right to me."

"Me too." She agreed placing a soft kiss on his lips. "I love you Keith, and I can't wait to marry you."

An idea popped into Keith's head at her words. "So let's not."

"Not what?" She asked in confusion.

"Wait. Let's get married straight away. I mean, what are we really waiting for anyway. The kids love the idea and now that we're all together there's nothing stopping us. What do you say?"

Karen grinned, "I say why not? Let's do it."

Dropping a kiss on her forehead, Keith replied, "Great, we'll tell the kids in the morning. They'll be thrilled. Speaking of, what do you think they're up to?"

"I knew you were worrying about Cassie. Seriously she's fine. Lucas, Nathan and Jake will be there all night and the girls will make sure she has fun." Karen sat up so that she could look at him properly, deciding that now was the best time to tell him what had happened. "There is something you should know however."

Keith looked at her curiously.

"Um, earlier today when Cassie was working, Dan came into the café." Keith immediately bolted up as she said this and she laid a calming hand on his chest. She explained the earlier encounter and saw the relaxation of the past few hours disappear from Keith's face only to be replaced by intense fury.

"Dammit!" He swore. "I warned him! I told him to stay the hell away from her and even after that he has the nerve to show up and blatantly threaten her in front of you and her friends. I swear I'll kill him."

"Look, try to calm down ok. I know you're angry but Cassie asked me not to tell you yet because she knew you'd get like this and more than anything she wanted us to enjoy some time alone tonight. But I figured after everything with Jules it was better to be honest."

"You did the right thing by telling me. Thank you. He just makes me so damn angry. She's just a kid Karen. She doesn't deserve this. She should be able to relax and have fun with her friends without having to worry about what Dan will do next." He stood and began pacing back and forth across the living room. "Maybe I should call and make sure she's ok."

Karen stood and approached him, resting her hands on his shoulders as she looked into his worried eyes. "I don't think that's a good idea. You're absolutely right. She should be able to relax and have fun with her friends without Dan being on her mind. So what do you think is gonna happen if you call her and quiz her about her well-being. She'll know I've told you and then she won't be able to relax because she'll be worrying about you all night."

He sighed heavily, his shoulders drooping in defeat, wishing there was something he could do to make the situation better. "So what do I do? I can't just sit here Karen."

She held up her hands in a last ditch attempt to calm him down. "Ok look, how about we order a take out. You can go pick it up and that way you can drive by the house and make sure everything's fine, without her knowing."

"You're right." He agreed, picking up the car keys as he made his way to the front door. He stopped to give her a quick kiss. "I'll be right back."

She held open the door for him as he made to leave, "Ok. And Keith?" He turned back toward her, still looking agitated. "Don't go into that house. Seriously, Cassie needs this night with her friends. I'm sure their having fun."

…………………………

Nathan belched loudly getting a loud groan from the others and a slap on the chest from his wife.

"Dude that's disgusting." Cassie laughed, throwing a pillow at her cousin's head.

"I bet I could do better." Lucas sat up, pretending to prepare himself.

"Eeeww, don't you dare boyfriend. Unless you want to be sat up here alone." Brooke shoved him playfully and he fell back against the side of the sofa.

The pizza had long since been eaten and the first film had just finished. The group were beginning to get restless.

The sound of the phone ringing made Cassie jump and she reached for the receiver which was on the table next to her chair.

"Hello."

Silence.

"Hello?" Cassie tried again but still there was no reply. An uneasy feeling creeping up inside her, she replaced the receiver and shot a glance at Lucas, who looked just as concerned. "Probably just a wrong number."

As soon as the words left her mouth, the phone rang again. Not in the mood for games she answered harshly, "What?"

A slight crackling sound could be heard on the line and then a woman's voice spoke, "Is this Cassandra Scott?"

"Uh, yeah that's me." The uneasy feeling only got worse at the official sounding voice on the other end of the phone.

"My name is Kathy Hislop and I'm calling from Tree Hill Emergency Room." Cassie heart rate flew through the roof and her hand shot to her mouth when the woman introduced herself. "Your father has been admitted this evening. He was in a car accident. You're listed as his emergency contact."

Lucas saw the tears fill Cassie's eyes and was by her side in a second. She thanked the woman and hung up the phone.

"Um, that…that was the hospital, Dad was in an accident."

Peyton's heart dropped as she was suddenly transported back to the day her father had received a similar call.

After taking a second to digest the news Cassie was on her feet. "I need to…uh…I have to get down there." She turned to her brother, "Lucas, your mom, they didn't say anything about your mom."

Lucas made an immediate grab for the phone, dialling the familiar number and praying that he got an answer. He let out a relieved breath when his mom answered. "Mom uh, where's Keith?" He asked, wanting to be sure the phone call had been real before freaking his mother out.

"He just went to pick up a take out." Picking up on the tone of her son's voice, Karen became concerned. "What's wrong? Lucas? What's going on? Is Cassie ok?"

"She's fine, physically anyway. Mom we just got a call from the hospital. They said Keith was in an accident."

Karen almost dropped the phone but caught herself just in time. This couldn't be happening. They'd just been talking about getting married less than an hour ago.

When Lucas heard nothing but silence on the line, he spoke, "Listen mom we're coming by to get you now ok. We'll head down there together."

He hung up the phone and turned to see Nathan and Haley standing ready to leave, keys in hand. He smiled gratefully at his brother and turned to Brooke. "I need to be with Cass, can you ride in with Peyton?"

"Sure." She gave him a reassuring hug and the group made their way out to their cars all silently praying that they wouldn't be arriving to bad news.

After picking up Karen, Nathan drove as fast as possible without risking a wreck and soon enough they arrived at the Emergency Room. Lucas, Karen and Cassie rushed inside towards the nurse's station.

"We're looking for Keith Scott." Karen's voice was shaky as she prepared herself for the worst.

The nurse looked up at the three worried faces before her. "Are you family?" She asked politely.

"Yes," Karen replied, "I'm his fiancée and these are his children."

Never before had the reference to Keith as his father meant so much to Lucas. He couldn't bare the thought of losing him before they had even had the chance to make it official.

The nurse directed them to Keith's room and as they made their way down the corridor, they saw the doctor leaving the room and rushed up to him.

"Excuse me, can you tell me about Keith Scott, I'm his fiancée. Is he going to be ok?" She spoke in a frantic voice and Lucas slipped a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"He's fine." The doctor assured. "He was in a car accident. He has a couple of broken ribs but apart from that he's just badly bruised. He was unconscious when the paramedics arrived though and he may have a slight concussion. He'll need to stay for a couple of days, just for observation but he should be clear to go home after that. He's a lucky man."

"Can we see him?" Cassie spoke for the first time, tears of relief streaming down her cheeks.

"Sure," The doctor nodded. "Go right in. He's actually been asking for you."

Cassie was on her way through the door before he'd even finished speaking. Quickly followed by Karen and Lucas. The rest of the group had made it down to the room but decided it best to wait outside.

Upon seeing her father, Cassie's tears started all over again.

"Hey, hey. I'm fine." He held out his arms and she rushed forward into them. "It's ok sweetheart. It's ok." He soothed. He held out his hand as Karen approached the bed, her face also stained with fresh tears.

"I was so scared. God I thought I'd lost you." Cassie sobbed hugging her father as tightly as she could without hurting him.

"Hey now. You know it will take more than a crumby car to get rid of me. I only just got you back, there's no way in hell I'm leaving you again. Any of you."

………………………

Jake eyed his girlfriend through the glass doors of the hospital entrance. After Lucas had come out to tell them that Keith was ok, she had excused herself and gone to get some air. He left her for a few minutes, sensing that she might need some time alone, but then after twenty minutes had gone by he decided to go and find her. It didn't take him long. He pushed through the swinging doors and approached her quietly, wrapping comforting arms around her. For a second she seemed startled, then she smiled and relaxed back into his arms.

"Bring back memories?" He asked softly.

She could only nod, not yet trusting her voice. As he always had, Jake understood what she needed and was simply content to hold her as she remembered a time when she and her father had received a similar phone call, only her mom hadn't been so lucky.

Finally she turned around to face him. "You're amazing you know that? No matter what you always seem to understand me and know what I need. There never was anyone else Jake, I just want you to know that. I mean, I had a couple of dates with Pete but all I could think about was you. I love you. And I'm so glad you're home."

He gently wiped away a stray tear with his thumb and looked into her eyes, "I love you too Peyton. So much. I thought of you everyday I was away and I never want to leave you again."

She smiled slightly and cupped his face in her hands. "Then don't." She pulled him in for a kiss that he was only too willing to accept and for a few moments at least, they lost themselves in each other.

………………………

Keith rested a hand on Karen's arm, stopping her from fluffing his pillows for the hundredth time that night.

"Really I'm fine. Quit fussing and just sit with me." He assured.

Cassie and Luke had gone with the guys to the hospital canteen for some much needed coffee. It had taken almost a half hour to convince Cassie to leave her father's side but eventually she had been dragged away by Lucas, who insisted that if she was going to stay all night, she at least needed a caffeine fix.

Karen looked her fiancé over. He looked pretty beat up but he had assured her that they were all just superficial wounds. Nothing serious.

"I'm so glad you're ok. I don't know what I would've done if anything had of happened to you. Do you remember what happened?" She held onto his hand as though her life depended on it.

"Oh yeah, clear as day." Keith replied, almost angrily, and Karen looked at him, confused. "It wasn't an accident Karen. I was driving to the take out place and I noticed that the guy behind me was close. Really close. He had his lights turned all the way up so I couldn't see him but I'm pretty sure I could take a good guess as to who it was."

Karen's eyes widened in horror as the implication of his words became clear. "Are you saying Dan actually ran you off the road."

Keith had never been so sure of anything in his life. "That's exactly what I'm saying."

"You've got to be kidding me." An angry voice spoke from the doorway and both Karen and Keith looked up to see Cassie standing with two cups of coffee in her hand. She handed one of the cups to Karen. "He actually tried to kill you!"

Keith shook his head. He hadn't wanted his daughter to hear that part of the conversation. He knew what her reaction would be. "I don't know. I don't think he was aiming to kill me. I wasn't driving very fast and he didn't hit me with much force, just enough to run me off the road. Either way he's certainly stepping up his game." He glanced at Karen, then returned his gaze back to his daughter. "I want you to stay with Karen while I'm in here. I don't want you going anywhere alone, no morning runs do you hear me?"

She was about to protest but upon seeing the worry in his eyes, thought better of it. She knew he'd be freaking out that he couldn't be around to protect her, even if it was only for a couple of days. So she only nodded.

Keith gave her a grateful smile, knowing that she would hate having to adjust her routine and be accompanied everywhere. "Good, ok look you guys must be beat, you've all been hanging around her for the last two hours and it's getting late, I'm fine as you can see, and you really should go home and get some rest."

"Are you sure, I don't mind staying…" Cassie began but her father promptly cut her off.

"Hey hey…." He could see that she was unsettled at the thought of leaving him and could only imagine how scared she must have been when she got the phone call to say he was in the hospital. "Come here kiddo." She sat on the bed beside him and he pulled her in for a hug, ignoring the pain in his ribs for the sake of comforting his daughter. "I know you were scared honey but honestly I can't say it enough, I'm fine. Go home with Karen and Lucas, get some rest. I'll still be here tomorrow, I promise."

Still not convinced but knowing he wouldn't have it any other way, Cassie relented. Dropping a kiss on his little girl's forehead he said goodnight to her and Lucas and they made their way out to the car. Karen hung back slightly.

"I'll be by tomorrow after I've opened up. Haley can cope for a couple of hours until lunch time. I'll bring Cass in with me."

Keith smiled gratefully and pulled her down for a kiss. "Keep an eye on her Karen. She rarely shows when she's scared but I know this whole thing got to her more than she's letting on. And I know my daughter; she'll also be extremely pissed." He chuckled slightly, thinking of how feisty Cassie could be, especially when it came to someone threatening her or those she cared about.

It was good to see him laughing. Thinking she might have lost him had knocked the wind out of Karen. She couldn't be more thankful that he was ok.

"Don't worry about it. I'll make sure she's ok. Lucas will look out for her too. I wouldn't be surprised if he attaches himself to her hip after all this. He'll be doing the whole big brother act while you're in here." Karen joked.

Giving him one last goodnight kiss, she left.

………………………..

As Cassie and Lucas made their way towards the emergency room exit, a voice that neither wanted to hear at that moment, caught their attention.

"I heard my brother was in an accident. I hope he's ok." Dan said, his expression not showing the slightest bit of concern.

Cassie's head shot up and without warning she made a dive toward her Uncle, only just stopped by Lucas. He held her by the waist, restraining her as she unleashed her fury on the man who was responsible for the current situation.

"You sick son of a bitch!" Cassie screamed, struggling to break free from Lucas's grasp so she could get at Dan. "You twisted, hateful mother fu…"

"Cass." Lucas cut her off. "Come on, calm down he's not worth it. Don't get worked up again."

Cassie however was in no mood to be placated. "How dare you show your face here after what you've done you asshole? My father is lying in there; he could have died for God's sake. What kind of excuse for a human being are you? He's your brother."

Dan just laughed. "Too bad someone didn't remind him of that before he tried to have me deep fried."

Cassie snapped and even Lucas wasn't able to restrain her as she pulled herself out of his grasp and got in her uncle's face.

"For the love of God how many times does he have to say it? It wasn't my Dad that tried to kill you. But you know what? It's a damn shame it wasn't. Because he would've done a better job than whoever did and I wouldn't have to be standing here looking into your smug face and wishing you would drop off the face of the earth." Cassie was unable to contain her fury as she looked into the eyes of the man who had hurt her father and caused them all so much pain.

"Like I said to your father when he tried to deny it, the dealership fire screams Keith Scott. The biggest give away was the fact that it failed."

The fact that Dan even had the audacity to show up at the hospital had been enough to infuriate Cassie, but hearing him bad mouthing her father, who was lying in a hospital bed unable to defend himself, sent her way over the edge.

Putting all her weight, frustration, pain and hatred for this man behind it, she swung her arm around and connected sharply with his jaw. The force of the punch and all the emotion behind it actually succeeded in knocking the man, who was twice the size of Cassie, off his feet.

Karen had caught up just in time to see the incident occur and she couldn't help but let out a slight laugh at the mighty man being knocked clean off his feet by a teenage girl. Nevertheless she rushed toward them and between her and Lucas, they managed to restrain Cassie before she could do anymore damage.

"That was for my Dad." Cassie seethed. "I know you think you're something but you don't scare me Dan. Not one bit. You know what you're problem is? Deep down I think you know it wasn't my Dad who tried to kill you, but you won't admit it because then you would have to admit to yourself that the reason you have such a grudge against him is nothing but petty jealousy. He has everything you want and you can't stand that can you? You're pathetic. And you know what the best bit is?" Looking him right in the eyes just like she had at the River Court on her second day in Tree Hill, she said, "The best bit is you know it."

When he made a move to stand, her voice stopped him. "Don't get up, it suits you down there."

Without another word, Cassie was led away by Karen and Lucas, who looked at him in utter disgust as they passed.

Once they had left, Dan picked himself up off the ground and dusted himself off, silently fuming at what had just happened. Despite his anger, he had to give his niece credit. She certainly was a firecracker. For the second time in as many days Dan wiped the blood away from his lip and made his way toward his brother's room.

Keith looked up as he entered, not in the least bit surprised to see him. "Ooh, what happened to you?" he said, gesturing to Dan's face. "You look like you need to switch places with me."

"Funny. Actually it was that firecracker of a daughter of yours. She seems to be kinda upset with me. Can't think why." He said smugly.

Before Keith could stop himself, a proud smile formed on his face. "Well, she certainly did a hell of a job. Even better than I did by the looks of it. You should really get some ice on that before it swells." He said, feigning concern.

"Save your concern for your Daughter." Dan smirked. "With you laid up in here for the next couple of days, not around to protect her, who knows what could happen." His smirk stretched into an evil grin when he saw his brother tense.

"You so much as go with ten feet of Cassie and I swear to God…."

Dan just laughed. "Oh please you'll what? You can barely even move. Besides I'm simply showing some concern for my niece. Bad things happen to young girls these days." He turned to leave, his mission to taunt his brother accomplished. "Don't get up. I'll see myself out."

Keith could only watch as his brother walked smugly out of the room.

_So what do you guys think so far? If anyone has any ideas about what they would like to see happen or who they would like to see more of let me know. I'm open to suggestions. There's a lot more to come from this story yet but I'm already think about the sequel, which will centre around all of the characters as opposed to mostly Cassie and Keith. For now though, I have to flesh out their relationship and the character of Cassie. Hope you like!_


	6. Sweet Child O Mine

_Disclaimer – The only thing I own of this story is Cassie. I don't even own the freaking title! Nope that belongs to the awesome Yellowcard! As for the title's of each chapter, I'm keeping with OTH tradition as you can see. Bonus points if you can name all the artists. Ha ha. This one should be easy. Keep reading…………_

**Chapter 6 – Sweet Child O Mine**

When Cassie awoke the next morning, it took her a moment to remember where she was. Then the events of the previous night came back to her and she quickly climbed out of bed, wandering out into the kitchen where Karen was seated at the table.

"Morning sleepy head." Karen smiled, getting up to pour a fresh cup of coffee and handing it to her.

"What time is it?" Cassie stifled a yawn and ran a hand through her hair with the hope of sorting the unruly mess out slightly.

"A little after ten."

Cassie's eyes widened, not realising she slept so long. "Then uh, shouldn't you be at the café by now?"

"I had Haley open up. Deb's there helping too. Besides I figured you needed your sleep after yesterday. Quite the little tempter tantrum you threw at the hospital." She joked. "And that wasn't all you threw from what I saw." She smirked at Cassie to let her know she wasn't mad.

Cassie covered her face with her hands and shook her head. "Dad's gonna be mad at me for that."

Karen laughed, "Maybe just a little but I think deep down he'll be proud of you too. I gotta admit I was. That punch you threw was really something. Where'd you learn to punch like that anyway?"

"Uh, I took up boxing in school a couple of years back. Mainly just for the training. I only fought once or twice. Well, in boxing anyway."

"Yeah your dad told me about the guy whose nose you broke. You know he was really proud of you for that." Karen finished up her coffee and put the cup in the dishwasher. "Speaking of, we better get going. I told him we'd be by this morning."

"Yeah cool I'll just go get dressed." She rushed off to Lucas's room where she had stayed the night before and hurriedly got dressed. After what had happened the night before she wanted to spend as much time with her father as possible. Nearly losing him had reminded her of why she had come home in the first place.

……………………….

"Mr Scott the Doctor strictly recommends that you stay at least another day. You may have a concussion from…."

Keith cut the nurse off abruptly. "I don't give a damn what the doctor said I'm telling you I am fine and I want to be discharged right now."

"What the hell is this?" Cassie asked, interrupting the heated discussion between her father and the staff nurse. "Dad, the doctor said that…."

"For the last damn time I do not give a crap what the doctor did or didn't say." Keith yelled, losing his patience.

Cassie fell silent, hurt by her father's outburst.

Keith sighed, "I'm sorry honey I didn't mean to snap. I just hate these places you know?" He didn't want to tell her the real reason he wanted to be discharged so urgently. His brother's threat from the night before still rang in his ears. He needed to be at home where he could make sure Cassie was safe.

Cassie, however, saw straight through his act and turned to the nurse. "He'll be staying as long as the doctor recommends. Sorry about all this."

The nurse smiled and left. Keith looked at his daughter in disbelief. "What the hell did you do that for?"

Cassie rolled her eyes. "I'm not stupid Dad. I know what this is about. You're worried about what will happen if you're not there to protect me. Newsflash Dad, you can't be with me 24/7. I can't live the rest of my life not being able go anywhere alone. I won't live like that. When you get home, we'll all sit down and figure out a way to sort out this whole Dan thing but until then I want you to stay here and rest like the doctor suggested. Ok?"

Sighing heavily, Keith relented. "Alright but just so you know I don't like this." He folded his arms like a petulant child.

"Oh quit being such a baby." She admonished, taking a seat on the edge of his bed.

Karen, who had so far remained quiet, took a seat in the chair on the opposite side of the bed. "You know she's right. You'll be no good to anyone if you injure yourself again. You need to rest."

Keith looked from Karen to his daughter. "When did we switch places anyway? You're not supposed to get to tell me what to do. I guess you're still on a power trip after your round with Dan last night huh Rocky?" He teased, smirking. "How's the hand?"

Cassie glanced down at her battle wound proudly. "Pretty cool. Every time I look at it I'm reminded of him hitting the deck like a sack of potatoes." She giggled. "Its gonna be fun explaining where I got it too. The best bit was I think I actually managed to pop him in pretty much exactly the same spot as you did. You should have seen it. Hey check it out, your hand hasn't healed yet, now we have matching battle scars.

"And both were acquired while defending each other's honour, we make a pretty good team kid."

"Yeah we do." She grinned.

Turning to Karen. Keith asked, "So did you see the show?"

"Oh yeah I had ringside seats. She did good. The verbal beating she gave him was even better than the physical one. Though it was fun seeing the almighty mayor being beaten up by a teenage girl." She replied, winking at Cassie.

After a half hour of small talk Karen checked her watch. "I better be getting to the café. Cass why don't you take the day off and hang out here? Keep your father out of trouble. I can come by later and pick you up."

"Sweet, thanks Karen. Whadda ya say Dad? Up for some company?"

"Sounds great sweetie." Keith was happy to see his daughter smiling. He knew last night had scared her. After losing her mother five years ago the thought of losing another parent must have been terrifying.

"Awesome. I'm gonna run down to the store on the ground floor, see if I can get us something decent to eat. The swill they serve in these places is disgusting."

Karen looked her fiancé in the eye once Cassie had left. "Ok what was all that fuss before really about?" She asked in a 'don't even try to avoid the subject' tone.

Keith turned serious. "Dan paid me a little visit last night after his collision with my daughter's fist. He hinted about how with me stuck in here there'd be no-one to protect Cassie. He's up to something Karen. I think he ran me off the road so that he could get at her with me out of the way. He knew that it would kill me not being able to protect her. That's why he did it."

Karen's hatred for the man who had fathered her son grew a little more in that moment. What was it going to take to stop him? They needed to do something before they had another incident like last night.

Cassie came back into the room then and the subject was swiftly changed to avoid her finding out about Dan's visit.

"Can you believe they actually have a video store in this place? Jeez they're turning hospitals into full scale resorts these days. I rented 'Gone in Sixty Seconds'. Thought it might teach you some new driving skills so that next time you're better prepared. A little Nicholas Cage style driving would have come in handy last night I bet." She teased.

Keith shot her a mock scowl. "It's a good job I'm laid up missy or I might have to kick your ass for that comment."

"Ah but you're forgetting, I throw better punches. I'd win by KO is less than a minute!" She boasted.

Karen was enjoying the light hearted banter after the stress of the night before. But as much as she would have loved to stay, the café wouldn't run itself. She gave Keith a goodbye kiss and threw Cassie a wave before heading out.

"So Cassius, I'm sorry I mean Cassie. Damn I guess I really do have a head injury." He teased good-naturedly. "What's say we get this movie ready and you join me up here."

Happy to oblige, Cassie queued up the video and climbed up onto the bed, nestling herself in her father's arms as gently as she could so as not to hurt him. She rested her head on his shoulder and smiled when she felt him wrap his arms protectively around her. In that moment she felt completely safe.

It didn't last long.

"Aww how adorable." Dan smirked as he entered the room.

Cassie tensed angrily in her father's arms. This was starting to get really old. Didn't he have anything else to do with his time than be a pain in the ass?

"What's up Uncle Danny? You need me to do the other side of your face so that it matches?"

Keith let out a laugh at this but did not remove his arms from around his daughter. With a bored tone, he said, "Go away Danny. You're ruining my mood."

Dan ignored both of their remarks and made himself comfortable in the chair at the side of Keith's bed. He reached for the movie cover on the bedside cabinet. "Gone in 60 Seconds." He nodded approvingly, "Educational choice considering your history with cars wouldn't you say?"

Cassie could feel her blood starting to boil and willed herself to calm down. "Maybe. Doesn't really give you any tips on what to do when your brother tries to run you off the road though."

"Ouch." Dan placed a hand over his heart. "That hurts. How could you possibly think I would do such a thing?" His voice was laced with sarcasm.

"The fact that you're a cold hearted son of a bitch was my first clue. The second was the bruise that I still have on my arm. By the way, if that's your idea of a welcome home gift please leave me off your Christmas list this year." She said, matching his level of sarcasm exactly.

Keith, though both amused and proud of his daughter's ability to handle herself, was beginning to become angry at his brother's presence. All he wanted was to be able to relax with Cassie for the afternoon so that they could both recover from the night before.

Catching on to her father's growing impatience, Cassie asked, "Want some water Dad? You must be thirsty by now."

Keith could only watch as she reached for the water, pretending to slip and knocking the water with the tip of her fingers, straight into her Uncle's lap.

"Son of a…." Dan leapt up from his chair, his pants completely soaked through.

"Oh jeez I'm so sorry." She said, though there was no regret in her tone or her expression. "I'm such a klutz, you should go get that dried. Could you close the door on your way out?"

Without another word Cassie hit the play button and she and her father settled into watching the movie, effectively dismissing the third person in the room.

Livid, Dan quickly left the room. Once the door had closed behind him father and daughter burst into a fit of laughter.

"Nice work Cass. That was one hell of a shot. No wonder you're an ace on the court."

When she had finally managed to stop laughing, Cassie replied, "What can I say? I guess I'm just naturally good at everything."

"Yeah well it's not really surprising, considering who your father is." Keith bragged, getting a playful slap on the arm from Cassie. Turning serious for a moment, he asked, "You ok though? A lot has happened these last couple of days."

"I'm fine. I'm just happy that you're ok. Dan couldn't possibly bring me down today."

Keith smiled and placed a kiss on her forehead and the pair returned to watching the movie.

………………………

Two hours later the movie had ended and Cassie had talked her father into a game of poker.

"Ha! Four of a kind beats Two Pair. I win!" Cassie yelled, pleased with herself.

Keith threw his cards down onto the table in defeat. "For like the third time. When did you get so good at this? Oh, wait I forgot you're just naturally good at everything." He teased.

"You know it!" Cassie said, grinning proudly.

The door to Keith's room opened and the doctor stepped in. "Mr Scott, the nurse tells me you're quite eager to get out of here. I wasn't going to recommend releasing you until tomorrow but you don't appear to be showing any signs of concussion. I've decided that we can organise for you to be released today on the condition that you get plenty of rest. Those ribs still need to heal."

"Thanks doc and don't worry, I'm sure my daughter here will see to it that I follow your directions to the letter." Keith replied, relieved to be getting out of the place. He hated hospitals.

The doctor nodded. "Do you have someone who can pick you up? I don't want you doing any kind of strenuous activity for at least the next week."

Cassie grabbed her cell. "It's cool, Karen's at the café but I can give Lucas a call." Without another word she left the room, the doctor following behind her.

She dialled the café first, wanting to tell Karen the news in case she left early to head to the hospital.

"Hey Karen it's me. I just called to let you know they decided to release Dad."

"So soon, are they sure he's ready?" Karen asked, concerned.

"They seem to be. They probably want rid of him after his tantrum from hell this morning. And he seems much better today anyway. The doctor said he doesn't want him doing any strenuous activity for the next week but other than that he's good to go." Honestly, Cassie couldn't wait to get out of there either. She hated hospitals. The last time she had really been in one was just before her mother died.

"Ok well I was about to leave here anyway. It's quiet and Haley can manage. I'll be by in around ten minutes to pick you guys up. Oh and Cassie…I think it might be a good idea if you both stay with Lucas and I while he's recovering."

"Cool, good idea, thanks Karen." She said goodbye and hung up racing back into her father's room. "Karen's on her way. She said it's quiet and she was gonna leave any minute anyway. Oh and she wants us to stay with her until you're better."

"Probably a good idea. I'm not a very good patient and I'm scared you might kill me with one of your iron fist punches if I get out of hand." He teased.

Narrowing her eyes, Cassie picked up her father's shirt so he could change out of the uncomfortable looking hospital gown. "Very funny wise guy. I could just as easy pop you one right now you know."

"Nah, the security in this place is pretty tight. I even have a panic button see."

"Didn't I tell you? The nurse disabled it earlier after your little hissy fit. I think she was secretly hoping that someone would come in here and do them a favour." She held out the shirt so that her father could slip his arms in to the sleeves. She noticed him wince as he moved and she felt a sudden pang of anger course through her when she imagined what could have happened.

Karen arrived a few minutes later, wheelchair in tow. Keith tried to refuse, claiming that he could walk, but the stern looks he received from his fiancée and his daughter told him he wasn't going to be walking anywhere. Reluctantly he eased into the chair and allowed Karen to wheel him out to the nurse's station, where he signed the necessary forms, before the three headed out of the hospital, all hoping that they wouldn't have to return for a long time.

Once they had arrived home, Karen and Cassie unsuccessfully tried to get Keith to agree to bed rest.

"No way! I've been lying in a hospital bed for the last 18 hours. I'll be fine on the couch." He insisted. "Besides I'll get lonely" He put on his best pout and then grinned when Karen sighed and relented while Cassie only laughed.

"Oh alright but I don't want to see you moving from that couch unless you need the bathroom, and even then you need to raise your hand like a good boy." Karen joked.

Keith raised an eyebrow suggestively, "And what happens if I'm a bad boy?"

Cassie cringed and covered her eyes. "Eeww. Guys seriously, grossed out teenager still present."

Karen smirked, throwing a cushion from the couch in Cassie's direction. "Go get your father a couple of pillows from my bed would you? I'll go rustle us up something to eat. What are you guys in the mood for?"

"How 'bout a take out?" Keith asked, keeping his face completely straight.

"No!" Karen and Cassie yelled at the same time causing him to burst into laughter.

Cassie shot him a mock glare and went off to find the pillows. At least his sense of humour was still in tact. She returned with the cushions and then went to help Karen prepare their evening meal.

"Hey, can I give you a hand with anything?"

"Um, well I just decided on pasta so you could throw together a salad?" Karen handed her a salad bowl and smiled gratefully.

They worked almost in sync, Cassie preparing the salad and setting out the plates while Karen prepared the pasta. Karen couldn't help thinking it was kind of nice to have another woman about the place. Lucas helped when he could and all but having another female presence was something she could get used to. The more she thought about it the more it seemed like the right time to move things along a little bit. She decided to get Cassie's opinion first.

"So Cass I was um, thinking that since we were all going to move in together soon anyway, and you're both staying here while your Dad recovers, what would you say to making it official now?"

"You mean move in now?" At Karen's nod Cassie shrugged, "I think it's a great idea. We're gonna need to bring some stuff over if we're staying the week anyway so we might as well do it now instead of going back home just to move out again. It's cool with me. Have you asked Dad?"

Shaking her head, Karen smiled nervously. "I wanted to run it by you first to make sure you're ok with it."

Cassie laughed and teased her future step mother. "Oh yeah, I have no problem with you guys getting married but living together? Hmm well that's gonna be an issue."

Karen raised an eyebrow at the girl, "You do know that living here means I can ground your smart ass now right?" She joked.

"Duly noted." Turning serious Cassie assured her. "No but seriously I think it's great. It'll be nice to be part of a proper family again. And to have a mom around too."

Hearing Cassie call her mom gave Karen the courage to ask what she had been wanting to ask for a few days now. "Listen um, while we're on the subject there's something else I wanted to ask you. Now before I say anymore I want you to know that you can say no if you want. There's no pressure." Taking a deep breath she continued, "Ok well pretty soon, your Dad is going to be making things official with Lucas and now that you're back for good, well, you know I've always thought of you like a daughter and…"

"I'd love for you to be my mom." Cassie cut in, knowing where the conversation was going.

"You would?" Karen seemed surprised. "I just wasn't sure if, you know with losing your mother and everything, I didn't want you to think I was trying to replace her." Truthfully, she was overjoyed at the prospect of officially being Cassie's mom. She loved the girl with all her heart. Since she and Keith had spent all their time together from Lucas being a baby, she had always thought of Cassie as a surrogate daughter.

"Don't get me wrong I'll always love my mom and I miss her like crazy. But you adopting me won't change that or mean I'm replacing her. It'll just mean I'm lucky enough to have had two great moms instead of one."

Karen's eyes filled with tears at Cassie's words and she pulled her new daughter in for a hug, both forgetting about the pasta that was cooking until they heard the pan boil over.

"Oh! Damn it!" Karen laughed, shutting off the gas.

"Yeah I tend to have that effect on people." Cassie deadpanned. "By the way, does Dad know that you were gonna ask me that?"

"Nope, it's just something I've been thinking a lot about the last couple of days and then the accident with your Dad made me realise that life's too short to waste and I just decided to go for it." Karen served the pasta and handed two plates to Cassie and picked up her own as well as the salad.

"Cool, leave it to me. This is going to be fun." Cassie grinned mischievously.

"Move it kid!" Karen laughed and nudged her towards the living room.

When they had all sat down to eat, Cassie waited until her Dad had put a forkful of pasta in his mouth and said, "This is really great, _mom._"

Score! Keith almost choked on his pasta when he heard the term come from his daughter's mouth. "Did you just say what I think you said?"

Shrugging as if it was the most normal thing in the world Cassie replied, "Yeah, Karen's adopting me, so it's kinda given that I call her mom."

Keith was thankful that he had swallowed his food before Cassie's second comment or he was pretty sure he would have choked.

"Uh, ok, I'm pretty sure I missed something here. Something pretty big. When the hell did this happen?" He said, still wondering if this was some practical joke.

Deciding to put him out of his misery, Karen filled in the blanks. "Well I've just been thinking the past few days about how you're making things official with Lucas and you know I've always thought of Cassie like a daughter. Then after the accident I decided to go for it. I want us to be a proper family."

Keith couldn't believe what he was hearing. In that moment he could have been knocked over with a feather. But as Karen's words sank in he found himself smiling proudly. There was nothing he would love more and he was happy for Cassie too. It would do her good to have a mother around again.

"I, this is, uh… wow!"

"What's wow?" Lucas interrupted as he entered the room and flopped down into a chair.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming home? I could have kept you some dinner." Karen chided.

"Oh its fine I ate at Brooke's. She's doing girl things tonight with Peyton and Haley, besides I wanted to come home and see how Dad was doing."

It was the first time Lucas had actually addressed him as Dad, excluding the time at Tric when he had accepted Keith's proposition, and it was truly music to Keith's ears.

Cassie couldn't believe her luck at Lucas unintentionally setting himself up to be blindsided. "He's a pain in the ass patient but uh, Mom soon put him is his place." She tried desperately to hold in the grin that was fighting to break free.

Lucas looked at her as though she had sprouted two heads and it was her undoing. While Cassie recovered from her laughter at managing to knock both her father and brother for six, Karen filled Lucas in on the situation.

"Well see the thing is, you're not the only one getting adopted now."

His eyes widened as he caught on to the meaning of her statement. "Are you serious?"

Keith saw his opportunity to get his revenge for what he knew was a carefully timed stunt pulled by his daughter. "That's what I said. I mean, I'm stuck with her, but your mom actually chose to take her on. What kinda crazy…"

"Hey!" Cassie yelled, though not able to mask her grin at her father's teasing. "It's a good job your injured otherwise I might have to kick your ass. And you know I could do it."

"Oh you think so huh?"

"No. I know so!"

Lucas watched the scene and couldn't believe how quickly their little family had come together. Ok so he had been waiting his whole life for his mom and Keith to get their act together. They sure didn't do things by halves. Honestly he was thrilled that his mom was adopting Cassie. They would officially be a family.

"Hey guys we still got two films left from last night. Who's up for take two of movie night?" Cassie suggested and at everyone's agreement she began clearing away the plates so that they could get set up. Lucas had been by her father's house earlier to straighten the place up. There were still pillow and duvets everywhere not to mention the pizza boxes and soda cans that had been abandoned when they received the news of Keith's accident.

"You know, I'm pretty sure we actually have a pack of popcorn." Karen went to the kitchen to see what she could dig up, closely followed by Lucas.

"Awesome! I'll get more pillows and most importantly, the duvets. Can't have movie night without duvets."

Keith laughed at his daughter's enthusiasm and watched as his family milled around him. Once they had prepared popcorn, drinks and of course the essential pillows and duvets, they settled in, deciding on sharing the sofa between the four of them. As his daughter settled in between him and Lucas, and Karen settled into his arms, he couldn't help but think that, despite his best intentions, Dan had actually done them a favour.


	7. Going Down In Flames

**Chapter 7 – Going Down In Flames**

When the credits of the second film rolled, Keith looked down to his right and smiled. Cassie, despite her best intentions, had finally succumbed to sleep, snuggled comfortably against his shoulder. He knew she was still exhausted from the last couple of days. He cursed his broken ribs and wished that he was strong enough to lift her and carry her to her room, the way he had when she was a child.

As if reading his mind, Lucas carefully slipped one arm around his sister's back and another underneath her knees, lifting her from the sofa and carrying her towards his room, which she had temporarily taken over until her own room was complete.

"Come on you!" Karen ordered. "Time for bed." She helped him carefully stand up from the sofa, pausing for a moment when he winced in pain. "You want some pain meds before bed?"

Nodding gratefully at the woman he had fallen even more in love with that night, he headed down the hall to where his little girl was sleeping, passing Lucas who was headed back to his makeshift bed on the couch. He entered the room as quietly as possible and eased himself carefully down to sit on the edge of the bed. He used to love watching her sleep. Some things never changed. She looked so peaceful and child-like lying there. He brushed a stray lock of hair away from her eyes and smiled to himself as she stirred slightly but did not wake.

Suddenly he felt a warm pair of arms slide around his shoulders and he turned to see Karen smiling down at him. He looked back down at his daughter. "I could sit and watch her all night." He whispered, careful not to wake his sleeping beauty. "I can't even begin to describe how it feels to know that she's sleeping in the next room rather than hundreds of miles away. And to know that we're all together. A proper family. I've wished for that for so long."

"You don't have to wish anymore." Karen said, placing a kiss on the top of his head. "I was thinking tomorrow evening the kids and I could head over to your place and start packing everything up. We're gonna have to get all of Cassie's stuff moved over here so she can have a proper room. Every girl needs their own space."

"Ok, sounds good." He stood from the bed and they headed out of the room, Keith turning for one last glance at his daughter, before heading to what was now his and Karen's room.

"You're amazing you know that?" Keith said as he watched Karen from his place on the bed.

She handed him the pills and a glass of water. "I do know that, but it doesn't hurt to hear it." She joked.

"How long had you been thinking about adopting Cass?"

"A few days. It just feels right. You're adopting Lucas and we're getting married. And you know I love her like she was my own. So I figured, why not? I was gonna talk to you about it first but with everything that's happened with Dan and then the accident, I didn't really get a chance. Plus I kinda had a feeling you'd be ok with it." She climbed into bed and lay sideways so she could look at him.

"I'm more than ok with it. I think it's great. Tonight was great, you know. Just having all of us together and finally being a family, doing what families do."

"Yeah it felt pretty good." She agreed, not quite able to believe how happy she was feeling, despite the events of the last few days. They'd gotten through it and she was sure that they would get through anything else Dan may throw at them. They'd get through it together. The thought helped them both relax and pretty soon, they'd both drifted off to sleep.

…………………………

The sun woke Cassie early the next morning and she decided not to bother trying to go back to sleep. She padded to the living room and was surprised to find her parents were already up. _Her parents,_ she grinned to herself as she replayed the term over and over in her head, still not quite believing how fast everything was happening.

"Morning," She yawned, checking the clock. It was almost seven and she decided to try her luck with her Dad.

She was about to ask the question but was cut off by Keith who had immediately known what she was about to say. "No, no way Cass. No morning run. Not alone."

She blew out a frustrated breath. "I can't spend the rest of my life having to be accompanied everywhere."

Feeling his daughter's annoyance, Keith tried to placate her. "It's not gonna be forever Cass. Just until this thing with Dan has died down. Look at me. I'm stuck here on this damn couch with three broken ribs because of him. It could have been a lot worse. Think back to how scared you were the other night when you got the call to say I was at the hospital. How do you think we would feel if it was the other way around?"

"Your father's right Cass. It's not a good idea for you to go out alone right now." Karen backed Keith up.

"This is going to become a regular occurrence now isn't it; you two ganging up on me?" She joked.

"You know it." Karen shot back.

Rolling her eyes playfully, Cassie accepted defeat. "Ok then can I at least go by the house and start packing up the stuff in my room. It shouldn't take long. It only arrived a few days ago so most of it is still in boxes anyway." Looking to her father she pleaded, "Mom can drop me off on the way to the café and I promise I won't set foot out of the door until I've called someone to pick me up."

Keith was hesitant, but knew he couldn't keep an eye on Cassie 24/7 and it wasn't fair to keep her under lock and key. "Ok but you make sure you stick to your word. No setting foot outside unless someone is there to collect you, got it? And keep the door locked."

"Promise." Cassie nodded, whilst making her way to the kitchen to fix herself some breakfast. "Have you guys eaten?"

When both of her parents shook their heads Cassie rolled her eyes and joked. "Really. Must I do everything around here? Breakfast of the Gods coming up."

"Looks like I got up just in time then." Lucas joked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he followed Cassie into the kitchen to grab a drink of juice. "I'm gonna need it believe me. Nate and I are going to Charlotte today to visit a friend of his from High Flyers who we met up with a few weeks ago and I have a feeling we have a day full of shooting hoops ahead of us. You sure you don't wanna join us Cass?"

"Nah its cool, go ahead and have a guys day. I'm gonna go by the house and pack up my stuff and then I think I'll just hang here with Dad while Mom's at the café. I don't have a shift today so it gives me a chance to get my room organised."

Lucas picked up on the fact that she had used the term mom immediately. "You know its cool hearing you call her mom. Weird, but cool."

"Yeah it is." Karen appeared in the doorway smiling. "Want some help?"

Once they had finished breakfast, Cassie got dressed and she and Karen headed out.

"Ok so remember, keep the door locked and no going outside alone. I get a break at around 1:30 when the lunch rush is over. Will you be ok here until then?" Karen wasn't totally happy with the idea of leaving her alone just yet.

"I'll be fine. If I get done packing up my room I'll just start on the living room and kitchen. The more I get done the better. I know its driving Dad crazy that he can't help." She unbuckled her seat belt and quickly exited the car. "Thanks for the ride. See you at around 1:30." She waved Karen off and headed inside to get started.

Placing her Staind CD into the player in the living room and cranking up the volume, she began sorting through the things in her room, placing them into different boxes while singing along to the music. She glanced around the room, feeling slightly attached to the place. She had only lived there for two weeks but it had been the first home she shared with her dad in more than five years.

But the feeling was soon replaced by excitement at the thought that she was moving in with her family. Karen was going to be her mom, her Dad was adopting Lucas and the part she truly couldn't wait for was her parents getting married. She was going to be maid of honour. Karen had asked her a couple of days after she'd come home. Her Dad had already asked Lucas to be his best man. She would have to make sure that she and Lucas put their heads together and made sure they gave them the most beautiful ceremony possible. They both deserved it.

Lost in her thoughts, Cassie almost hit the ceiling when she felt her cell phone vibrate in the pocket of her jeans. Pulling it out she checked the caller ID and grinned. She knew it wouldn't take him long.

"Hi Dad. I'm inside; the door's locked as are all the windows. Should I expect a phone call every half hour or is this just a one off?" She said, keeping her tone light so he'd know she wasn't really annoyed.

On the other end of the line, she heard her father chuckle at her sarcasm. "Is it a crime to be worried about my baby girl now?"

"Not yet but I heard they were thinking of changing that."

"Ok, now I know you're definitely fine. Your sarcasm is on top form as always."

Heading downstairs to make herself a drink of juice while she was on the phone, Cassie laughed. "Like father, like daughter, Daddy dearest."

"So you're really ok?" Keith said, turning serious. "Nothing odd or out of place in the street? No-one hanging around?"

Rolling her eyes at her paranoid father, Cassie sighed. "Well I mean everything looks ok. But then again I'm almost positive that when Mom dropped me off that trash can outside was further away from the house. Yeah, it's definitely getting closer. The trees are looking very suspicious today too. I think I even heard them whisper to each other when I was unlocking the front door."

"Very funny, smart ass." Keith tried to sound stern but couldn't help being slightly amused at his daughter's quick wit.

"I am aren't I?" Deciding she'd tortured her father enough, Cassie assured him seriously, "Honestly Dad, I'm ok. I'm just listening to music while I pack up my room and then I'll get started on the living room and kitchen. Mom will be back for me in like, a few hours."

"Alright, I know I'm paranoid, I just worry about you."

Truthfully, Cassie had to admit that she loved the fact that he cared enough to keep check on her. "I know and I love you for that." Remembering that he too was home alone she decided to return the gesture. "Ok my turn to check on you, what are you up to? And if you're answer is anything other than chilling out on the sofa you're in trouble."

"I just finished repairing a broken tile in the kitchen ceiling. It's ok though, my ribs aren't really bothering me so much today."

"WHAT!" Cassie hit the roof. "Dad, you know what the doctor said. No strenuous activity of _any_ kind for at least a week. What the hell are you doing climbing ladders and fixing broken ceiling tiles? Especially when there's no-one around if you fall." When she heard her father laughing on the end of the line she realised she'd just been had by her own joke.

"Not nice when the shoe's on the other foot is it?" Keith teased.

"I am so kicking your ass when I get home."

"You can't. I'm an injured man. That would be like beating up a cripple. You wouldn't do that." He continued to taunt playfully.

"No? Well I guess you'll find out later." She shot back.

"Ooh, see now I'm scared." He laughed. "Ok I guess I'll quit the over protective father act now that I know you're ok. Just remember what I said about going outside. I'll see you soon honey. Love you."

"I'll remember Dad. Love you too. See you soon." She hung up the phone, shaking her head and chuckling at her father.

Taking a quick drink of her juice, she placed it back on the counter and set the volume back to its previous deafening level and headed back upstairs.

She'd been back upstairs for around fifteen minutes when the strangest thing happened. The song that was playing on her Staind CD suddenly stopped and the album skipped forward. She froze when she heard the intro to Zoe Jane, the song she had danced to, with her father at the party. That was odd.

Nervously, she headed out of her room and glanced over the railing down to the living area. "Hello?" She yelled, trying not to sound freaked out. If it was Lucas playing some practical joke, she'd never live it down.

But then she remembered that Lucas had gone to Charlotte for the day with Nathan. It couldn't be him. One of the girls' maybe? Her mom had no doubt called Peyton and asked her to stop by.

Heading downstairs she made her way from room to room. Nothing seemed out of place and she let out a relieved breath.

"Get a grip Cassie. It's probably just a scratched CD." She told herself. Leaning against the counter, she took another drink of her juice and then, checking the back door once more, headed back upstairs.

She had almost reached her room when she started to feel slightly woozy. Putting a hand to her forehead she leaned against the railing for support. What the hell? She had been fine a moment ago.

"Feeling a little out of sorts?" A distorted voice said and she turned to see who it belonged to. A chill ran down her spine as she saw Dan standing smugly in front of her.

Her vision began to blur and her legs suddenly gave way. She slid down the wall. "Wh…what did you do?" She spoke hoarsely as her mouth had begun to feel dry and cottony.

Looking down at his niece Dan laughed. "Me? Nothing at all sweetheart, in fact, I'm not even here. I was never here." Seeing her struggling to stay awake he spoke soothingly. "Don't fight it honey. Just close your eyes."

"You…" She didn't get to finish her sentence as the drugs finally took hold and her eyes closed.

…………………….

Eying his cell phone once more, Keith debated whether to call and check on Cassie again.

_Quit being so paranoid. You only just spoke to her half an hour ago. She's fine._

No sooner had he thought it, than his cell phone started buzzing frantically on the counter. Picking it up and checking the caller display, he grinned. "Damn you only just beat me to it."

But the only reply he received was silence.

"Cass? Cassie can you hear me? Answer me sweetie." Becoming worried, Keith fell silent and listened for any sign of her in the background. The only sound he could hear was a faint whooshing sound. He recognised it, but couldn't place it. Then he heard a crackling sound and he could have sworn his heart stopped as he realised what the sound was.

"Cassie? Cassie! Damn it!" Frantically looking around, his eyes caught sight of the keys to Lucas's car. The boys had taken Nathan's car to Charlotte. Grabbing the keys, he rushed out the back door, not bothering to lock it behind him. His only thoughts were of getting to his daughter.

Driving as fast as possible, he neared the home he used to share with his daughter, seeing the smoke before he had even rounded the corner.

_No! No no no!_ He pleaded silently. _Please God let her be alright._

As he rounded the corner, he caught sight of the flames that were erupting from the windows on the lower floor of his home.

A small crowd had gathered on the street and his neighbour came rushing up to him. "Keith, thank God. I called the fire service. They're on their way."

Keith didn't hear a word the woman had said as he ran full speed towards the front door of his home. Trying the door, he found it was locked and was about to kick it down when he caught himself and remembered what he had always been taught growing up. His Grandfather had been a fire fighter and from being small he and Dan had had fire safety drummed into them. Checking the door for heat and making sure there was no risk of a back draft he kicked the door as hard a he could, causing it to swing open and crash against the wall. Red hot pain shot through his body as his injured ribs protested to the action. He didn't care. He had to find his daughter.

"Cassie!" He yelled, coughing as he caught a lung full of thick smoke.

Taking the stairs two at a time he rushed upstairs to her room, stopping in his tracks when he caught sight of her lying unconscious just inside her bedroom doorway.

He made his way over to her and quickly lifted her into his arms, fighting to ignore the growing pain in his ribs. He could hear the sirens as the fire fighters arrived. Making his way down the stairs he turned his back to the flames that were overtaking the hallway so as to keep his daughter from being burned.

Finally making it through the front door, he stumbled down the front steps and collapsed onto the lawn, coughing violently.

Paramedics rushed toward the pair and despite his protests, Cassie was pulled from his arms.

"Keith! Oh God!" Karen appeared by his side immediately, but he was unable to avert his eyes from where the paramedics were frantically working to revive his daughter. The pair looked on with tears in their eyes as the efforts of the paramedics seemed to be proving fruitless.

Suddenly one of them yelled, "I've got a faint pulse."

A second later, Karen's own heart began to beat again as she heard the sound of her daughter coughing desperately. Keith was already on his feet and on his way over to where Cassie was lying. He kneeled down on the grass beside her.

"Cassie! Cass, sweetie it's me."

"D..Dad?" Her voice was husky from the smoke.

"I'm right here honey. It's gonna be ok." He assured as he hoped to God that his words were true. He gently stroked his daughter's face as she drifted out of consciousness once more.

The adrenaline slowly wore off causing the pain in his ribs intensified and his body buckled suddenly. Karen caught him before he hit the ground and two of the paramedics rushed over to load him onto a stretcher. As they wheeled him towards the second ambulance he pleaded with Karen. "Go with Cassie. I'll see you at the hospital."

Karen could only nod, not trusting her voice as the familiar fear that she had felt only two nights ago came flooding back with double the intensity. Now, both her fiancé and her daughter's lives were in danger. She couldn't bear to lose either one of them never mind both.

As she climbed into the ambulance and held onto Cassie's hand, the medic closed the door behind her and the vehicle sped off, sirens blaring, toward a place she had hoped she wouldn't have to return to.

………………………….

"Come on Luke pick up, pick up." Haley pleaded after several attempts. Finally, he answered.

"Hey Hales, what's up?"

"Uh, Luke, there's um, there's been an accident."

She didn't have a chance to say anymore as he immediately started to panic.

"What? Hales, what's going on? Is everyone ok?"

She heard her husband in the background and then his voice came over the line. "Haley? What's going on?"

"Nathan, um there's been a fire. At Keith's place. Karen just called, they're at the hospital."

"What? Oh God, is everyone ok?" Nathan asked.

Haley could here Lucas in the back ground yelling at his brother to tell him what was happening. "I don't know. Karen hasn't heard anything yet. Look, just get him to the hospital ok? I'm going to close up here and then I'll meet you there."

"Ok. I love you."

"Love you too." She hung up the phone and caught the attention of the four remaining customers, explaining the situation and that she'd need to close the shop. Then quickly locking the door behind her, she headed for her car and prayed that everything would be ok.

…………………….

The hospital was unusually quiet as Karen stood outside of Cassie's room while the doctors checked her over. Keith had been taken into the room next door where the doctors were currently working on him.

She felt a presence beside her and turned to see a worried looking Haley holding out a fresh cup of coffee. Accepting it gratefully she turned back to the glass window, watching the doctors work.

"They've been in there over half an hour what the hell is going on?" Karen asked, gesturing toward Keith's room, though knowing Haley did not hold the answer.

Suddenly, the doors leading into the corridor burst open and a frantic looking Lucas ran toward his mother, followed closely by Nathan who went immediately to his wife's side.

Hugging his mother tightly Lucas asked, "Any news?"

Karen shook her head. "The doctor is checking on Cassie and they're still working on Keith."

Just then, a doctor stepped out of Cassie's room and made his way over to them. "Are you Cassie's mother?"

"Yes I am." Karen answered without hesitation. "Is she ok?"

The doctor smiled reassuringly. "She'll be fine. She's mainly suffering from smoke inhalation although when she came around she seemed overly groggy and disoriented and was having difficulty breathing. It's possible that she may be suffering from Carbon Monoxide poisoning. We need to keep her in for a few days just to be safe."

Suddenly a loud, continuous beep filled the hallway and the doctor, followed by a team of nurses and two other doctors rushed past her into Keith's room.

"He's arresting. Get me a crash cart in here!" A doctor yelled.

Karen rushed toward Keith's room. "What's happening? What's wrong?"

"Ma'am you can't be here." A nurse said, attempting to usher her out into the hall.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she watched the doctors use the defibrillator to try to shock her fiancé back to life. "No! No what's happening?" She screamed, fighting to get to him.

Lucas pulled his mother away from the door as the nurse closed it, allowing the doctors to work on Keith. Her legs gave way and he caught her as she fell, easing her onto a chair as she sobbed in his arms. His own eyes shining with unshed tears, he tried to comfort her as best he could but when no words were of any use, he simply held her while she cried.

Almost an hour passed before the door to Keith's room opened and the same doctor that had informed them of Cassie's condition, stepped back out into the hall.

Lucas stood with his mother, keeping an arm around her in silent support.

"We've managed to stabilise him. The extensive damage to his ribs caused a puncture in one of his lungs and because of the lack of oxygen his heart stopped. We've repaired the damage temporarily but he's going to need immediate surgery. We're prepping him for the O.R now." The doctor explained.

Karen could only watch as the nurses wheeled Keith out of the room and away to theatre.

_A/N – Ok so… anyone think I've gone OOC with Dan? Well if you do let me just remind you of this….. he shot his own freaking brother! The man is crazy! But we love to hate him right? The show just wouldn't be the same without him and Paul Johansson does an awesome job! Keep it up Paul, we love you really!_


	8. Sick Cycle Carousel

**Chapter 8 – Sick Cycle Carousel**

Brooke was angry. It was 2:30pm and her boyfriend was supposed to be back from Charlotte half an hour ago. She'd tried his cell numerous times only to hear a recorded greeting asking her to leave a message. Unbelievable. Picking up her phone again she decided to try a different number.

No answer.

She slammed her phone shut angrily but before she could throw it across the room it rang in her hand.

"About damn time Nathan, where the hell is Luke, I've been trying to call you guys for a half hour."

"Brooke, calm down ok, we're at the hospital." His words immediately silenced her. "There was a fire at Keith's place this morning. Cassie was inside and Keith went in to save her. She's ok but because his ribs were already damaged, the extra strain put on them by rushing into the house and carrying Cass out caused one of his lungs to be punctured. He's been in surgery for the last two hours." When all he heard on the other end of the phone was silence he looked at his phone to make sure the line was still connected. "Brooke, you there?"

"Uh, yeah." She replied, her voice thick with tears. "I'll be right there."

……………………………….

Cassie groaned as opened her eyes slowly. Everything around her was white. For a moment, she struggled to remember where she was. A hand on her arm caused her to look up into the concerned eyes of her mother.

"Hey kiddo. How you feeling?"

Cassie tried to reply but her throat was dry and sore, causing her to start coughing violently.

Karen reached for the glass of water on top of the bedside table, helping Cassie take a small sip.

Cassie cleared her throat. "Like a tank drove over my chest. That's not what happened is it?"

Karen laughed, relieved to see that Cassie still had her sarcastic sense of humour and knowing then that she'd be ok. "Uh no. Not exactly. Do you remember anything?"

Cassie looked thoughtful for a moment, then shook her head. "The last thing I remember is talking to Dad on the phone." Her eyes widened when she realised her father was not by her side. That could only mean one thing. "Where's Dad? Is he ok?"

Karen tried to calm her daughter as she became increasingly agitated. "Sshh, honey calm down. It's ok." When Cassie calmed slightly Karen began to explain. "Honey, there was a fire. Your Dad found you unconscious in your room. He carried you out but the strain on his ribs caused his lung to be punctured. He's in surgery right now. He should be out anytime now." She left out the part about his heart failing, seeing that Cassie was already upset.

"He's going to be ok right?" She asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"Of course sweetie. He's going to be just fine. Remember what he said the other day? There's no way in hell he's going to leave you. No way." Karen assured, wishing that she felt the same confidence that she spoke with.

A knock at the door caused Karen to look around. Seeing the doctor who had been leading Keith's operation she stood, but did not move from her daughter's side.

"Ms Roe. Your fiancé's surgery went well. We managed to repair the damage to his lung and he's in recovery as we speak."

Before Karen could get a word in, Cassie spoke up. "I want to see him."

"I'm not sure that's a…." The doctor started but was quickly cut off.

"I want to see him!" She said adamantly.

"Very well." The doctor reluctantly agreed. He disappeared for a moment, reappearing with a nurse and a wheelchair. "Sister Kestin will take you down to see your father."

The nurse helped Cassie into the wheelchair and together with her mother, Lucas and Brooke who had been waiting out in the hall; they headed down to Keith's room. The doctor order only two visitors at a time and Lucas nodded to his mother, signalling that she and Cassie should go in first.

When Cassie entered the room she was taken aback at how weak her father looked. He was hooked up to a drip and a heart monitor and a nasal tube was helping him breathe easier. Nevertheless, he looked overjoyed to see her.

"Hey, there's my little girl. I always knew you were competitive honey but burning the house down just to do one better than my car wreck? Was that really necessary?" His voice was hoarse and quiet but the old humour was still there.

Cassie let out a light laugh as the nurse wheeled her over to his bedside. She immediately grabbed onto his hand. "Yup. Would've worked too if you hadn't gone all hero on me." The more serious meaning behind her words was clear.

"You didn't honestly think I would let you outdo me did you?"

She shrugged. "It was worth a try." Then, seriously she said, "I don't remember any of it Dad. Do you remember what happened?"

"Uh, well I was just about to call you again but then my cell phone rang and I checked the ID and saw your number. When I answered you weren't there. Then I heard the sound of the flames crackling in the background and the rest as they say is history."

Karen spoke up, deciding it was time to share what she'd been told by the fire investigator just half an hour ago on the phone. "The investigator said that the stove was left on and a dish cloth next to it caught fire. That's where it started. Do you remember cooking anything?"

Cassie shook her head. "I… uh….no I don't remember anything." Her eyes filled with tears as she became frustrated. "I wouldn't leave something on the stove. Not while I was upstairs and especially not with a dish cloth lying next to it. I know the dangers." She thought hard. She felt like there was something she was missing. Something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

Keith saw the increasing frustration on her face and tried to soothe her. "Don't force it honey."

She froze.

His words, they sounded so familiar. In her mind she heard another voice. _"Don't fight it honey. Just close your eyes."_

"Oh God I…"

Before anyone could say or do anything, Cassie turned and emptied the contents of her stomach into the trash can by her father's bed. Tears streamed down her cheeks and her breathing became shallow.

"Cassie? Cass!" Immediately pressing the call button, Keith looked to Karen who had knelt down in front of Cassie and was trying to soothe her.

"She's having a panic attack." Karen said as a nurse rushed into the room. "Cass, sweetie, look at me." When Cassie's eyes met hers she continued. "I need you to calm down."

The nurse took hold of the wheelchair. "We need to get her back to her own room."

"No!" Cassie finally managed to say as her breathing slowed slightly. "No I'm ok." Turning to the nurse she pleaded. "Is there anyway I can be moved in here with my Dad? Please, I want to be near him."

"Um, I'll see if there's anything I can do." The nurse replied and promptly left the room.

"Cassie what's going on?" Keith asked.

Deciding that her father was still too weak to know the truth, Cassie covered. "Nothing, sorry I just had a flashback that's all. These places get to me and considering this is the second time in three days that I've had to set foot in one, I think I'm due a little panic time don't you?" She tried to joke.

Karen didn't buy it for one second, but as she was about to challenge her daughter, the nurse reappeared.

"The doctor has agreed to move your father into your room with you, as it is meant for two people anyway and you're family. We need to get you back down into bed and we'll bring your father along shortly after."

Cassie nodded and Karen told the nurse that she would make sure she got back to her room and into bed while they were getting Keith ready to be transferred. She wheeled her back up the hallway and helped her back into bed. As soon as she was settled, Karen demanded answers. "What's really going on Cassie? What are you not telling us?"

For the first time in as long as she could remember there was genuine fear on Cassie's face and she quickly became concerned.

"I didn't leave the pan on while I went upstairs. And I definitely didn't leave a dish cloth near it."

"What are you saying?"

Cassie looked her mother in the eye. "I remember now. I just finished on the phone to Dad and I went back upstairs. The CD downstairs skipped, straight to the song I danced to with my Dad at the party. I thought it was strange so I went downstairs but there was nobody there. So I went into the kitchen and took another drink of the juice I had poured when I was talking to Dad. By the time I got back to my room, I'd started feeling weird. I went all light-headed and my vision went blurry. I passed out soon after but I had enough time to see him."

Karen's eyes widened in horror as she realised the implication of Cassie's words.

"He told me not to fight it: to just close my eyes and sleep." Tears flowed freely now. "Mom, my phone was nowhere near me. I remember leaving it on the counter near my juice when I headed back upstairs. It…it was Dan. He drugged me. He drugged me then he set fire to the house, and then he called Dad. He tried to kill me."

Karen didn't get a chance to say anymore as the door opened and the nurse wheeled Keith into the room. Cassie wiped at her tears, hoping that he hadn't noticed. He didn't seem to, or at least if he did, he didn't say anything. She shot a look to her mom, who nodded in understanding. They both knew how Keith would react if he found out it was his brother who had started the fire. He was still weak from the operation and any further stress could hinder his recovery.

……………………………

"Luke, calm down. You don't know for sure that Dan had anything to do with this. It could just be a terrible coincidence." Brooke tried to calm her boyfriend, who was angrily pacing the hallway outside Keith and Cassie's room.

"Oh come on Brooke. I know you don't believe that anymore than I do. Dad was run off the road just two days ago and then Cassie is almost killed. And am I the only one who is seeing the similarity between this and the fire at the dealership?" Shaking his head he sat down on one of the chairs and let out a frustrated breath. "This has Dan Scott written all over it."

Sitting beside her boyfriend she placed a comforting arm around his shoulders. "Maybe you're right. But until you know for sure you can't just go off throwing accusations around. Keith and Cassie need you right now, so does your mom."

Sighing, he turned to look her in the eye. "What's next Brooke? He's never gonna stop. He's not playing games anymore. Cassie could have been killed and Keith almost was."

Before Brooke could reply, Karen stepped out into the hallway.

"Hey you two. What are you still doing sitting out here? Come on in. Keith and Cassie have been asking for you."

Speaking quietly, Lucas sought the confirmation that he needed from his mother. "It was Dan wasn't it mom? He set the fire."

Not wanting to lie to her son, Karen nodded. "Yes it was. It seems he um, he drugged Cassie and then set the fire after she passed out."

Red hot fury coursed through Lucas and he stood, running his hands through his hair in frustration. "Son of a bitch!"

Brooke jumped slightly as her boyfriend's anger got the better of him and his foot connected with a trash can, sending it flying across the corridor.

"Lucas!" Karen spoke sternly. "I know you're angry. Believe me I am too. But right now, it's more important that we're all here for Cassie and your father. He's still weak from the surgery and although I'm sure he has his own suspicions, he doesn't know the truth about Dan's involvement yet. We need to keep it that way until he's strong enough to deal with it."

Not trusting his voice just yet, Lucas nodded at his mother and took a deep breath before he and Brooke followed her into the room.

…………………………….

The door to the beach house burst open, slamming against the wall as a furious Nathan went in search of his father. Finding him relaxing on the terrace with a beer only served to anger Nathan more.

"Did you do it?" He demanded.

"Hello to you too son. Did I do what?"

"Save the games Dad I'm not in the mood. My uncle and cousin were almost killed today in a fire so you'll forgive me if I'm a little less than happy. I know what you did to Cassie that day on the beach and I know you have something against Keith so I want to know, did you have anything to do with the fire?"

Dan feigned his best hurt expression and stood to look his son in the eye. "You actually believe that I would do something like that? Just shows how little you think of me and I guess I can't blame you."

Nathan laughed humourlessly. "Here we go. The famous Dan Scott manipulation begins. It won't work Dad. Don't pretend that you have any sort of human feeling inside of you. If you did, you'd actually give a damn that your brother and your niece are lying in hospital. They almost died!"

"And I should care why? He didn't think anything of the fact that he's my brother when he burned my dealership to the ground with me inside. He's nothing to me and neither is that little wise ass daughter of his." Dan yelled, losing his cool.

Nathan shook his head in disgust. "When are you going to get over this thing at the dealership. Keith wasn't the one who tried to kill you…."

"And how would you know?" Dan cut in.

Nathan stopped short. Despite his worry for his uncle and cousin, he couldn't bring himself to tell his father who had really tried to kill him. He knew what would happen to his mother if Dan found out. "Keith wouldn't do something like that. Unlike you." Looking his father in the eye, he continued his verbal assault. "You hurt everyone you touch Dad. And you feel no remorse for it. I'm disgusted to even admit that you're my father and sometimes…sometimes I wish you had died in that fire."

Without another word, Nathan turned his back on his father for good, slamming the front door behind him.

…………………………………

"So when are you going to tell me what really happened today?"

Cassie looked up at her father's words. They were alone in their hospital room. Lucas and Brooke had left with Karen, promising to return the next morning.

"What do you mean?"

"Come on Cass, I know you. I know you wouldn't leave something on the stove while you were upstairs. I also know that the smoke alarm would have alerted you to it before the fire was able to really start anyway. My brother did this didn't he?" Keith was sure he already knew the answer but nevertheless was still filled with unspeakable rage when he saw his daughter nod, not able to meet his eyes. "I'll kill him."

Cassie finally looked into her father's eyes and what she saw there scared her. She knew that his words were more than just a figure of speech. "Don't talk like that."

"Cassie this isn't a game anymore. He tried to kill you. I won't stand by and let that happen."

"We don't have to. I'll make a statement. The police can handle it. Please Dad I don't want you doing anything stupid."

Seeing the desperation in her eyes, Keith felt helpless. He wanted more than anything to believe that the police could handle it. But the fire had already been ruled an accident. It would be almost impossible to prove that there had been any foul play involved.

Climbing out of her bed she made her way over to him. "I'm scared too. I know this is more serious than I first thought. I didn't realise Dan was so screwed up. But I don't want to lose you. Please you have to promise me that you won't do anything stupid."

Tears had begun to slowly roll down her cheeks and Keith felt his anger fade as his need to comfort his daughter took over. Pulling her to him, he stroked her hair softly and soothed, "I'm not going anywhere sweetie. I promise."

They stayed that way for what seemed like forever until eventually Keith heard her breathing even out and looked down to see that she had in fact cried herself to sleep.

Kissing her forehead softly he wished there was something he could do to stop all this. He knew Cassie was right. He'd be no good to anyone in jail. He wanted to be there for his family. But that didn't alter the fact that Dan had gone too far. He had actually tried to take Cassie's life. It terrified Keith to think about what he would do next. He couldn't allow it to continue.

……………………………………

Karen was in the middle of cleaning up in the back room of the café when she heard the bell to the front door alert her that someone had entered. Checking her watch she saw that it was well after seven and she knew she'd flipped over the closed sign more than ten minutes ago.

"I'm sorry we're…." Her words died in her throat when she emerged from the back of the café and saw who it was. Her eyes darkened in fury at the man who had almost taken her fiancé and daughter's lives.

"Closed. I know, but I thought you might make an exception since I'm family and all." Dan smirked.

"I don't have time for this Dan. I have to get to the hospital to see my daughter and fiancé who were almost killed today. Maybe you heard about it. Cassie was drugged and the house was set on fire. Ring any bells?"

"Jeez those two really should think about taking out some sort of health insurance plan. They're both kinda accident prone don't you think?" He shot back.

Karen was in no mood for his games. "Get the hell out of my café Dan or I promise you, burning to death will be the least of your worries."

Laughing, Dan continued to taunt her. "I hear you're planning to adopt Cassie. How sweet."

Without missing a beat, Karen replied, "Yeah I thought so. Its nice that we're all becoming so close you know. Keith and I are getting married, I'm adopting Cassie, Keith is adopting Lucas. We're becoming a real family. Its feels great. I can't imagine how it would feel to know that my family couldn't stand me. Must suck huh?" Her words had the desired effect as she saw the smirk promptly disappear from Dan's face. "Now if you'll excuse me I need to go be with my family."

As she brushed passed him and headed to the door, he caught her by the arm and whispered menacingly. "This isn't over Karen. Keith started this war. Sleeping with my wife was his first mistake. His second was trying to kill me."

Pulling her arm from his grasp, she headed to the door and held it open, trying not to show the fear she felt.

Smirking he walked toward the door but as he passed her he stopped and touched her cheek with his hand. When she recoiled as though she had been burned he let out a soft but humourless laugh.

"Give my brother my best wishes won't you."

Once he had gone, Karen closed the door and leaned heavily back against the wall, closing her eyes and letting out a shaky breath. This couldn't go on. Dan had always gotten a kick out of taunting people, especially her, Lucas and Keith, but it was beginning to get out of hand and the man had apparently gone way off the deep end. His need for revenge seemed to have consumed him completely. Where as before he had been content with making their lives difficult as a pastime when he had nothing better to do, it seemed that now it was what he lived for. The evil that she had seen in his eyes when he had spoken about his brother had terrified her. She knew he meant it when he said it wasn't over.

Once she had calmed down slightly, she left the café on shaky legs and headed to the hospital.

…………………………………..

"Yeah because if a madman with a six inch knife was coming after you, you'd totally just stand there and wait for him to catch up." Cassie yelled at the TV for the tenth time in the last hour. She and her father were watching Scream on the TV in their room. It had been the only vaguely watchable show on the channels that were available.

"Why do you insist on watching these things if your just gonna tear them down every two minutes?" Keith asked, laughing.

"Correction father who knows nothing. I like to watch tasteful horror films. Classics. Not this kind of rubbish. I mean, they totally discriminate against women. And have you noticed that the heroine's are always brunettes? The blondes are always the first ones to bite it. It's total bullshit." Turning back to the TV she yelled, "Jeez you totally deserve to be mutilated you dumb ass. At least put up a bit of a fight."

Keith was thoroughly amused watching his daughter get completely immersed in the film. "Oh and I suppose you'd give him the ass kicking of his life if it were you."

"Damn straight." Cassie nodded proudly. "There's no way I'd be letting some half ass psycho take me down."

The unintentional double meaning behind her words was not lost on Keith as he was reminded of the situation they would have to face once they were out of the safety of the hospital.

"Dad!" His daughter's voice warned sternly. They had made an agreement when she woke earlier that for the next few days, they wouldn't think or talk about Dan. He couldn't get to them while they were in the hospital so they would leave the worry until they were forced to deal with it and spend the next couple of days enjoying each other's company.

Holding up his hands in mock defeat he feigned his best innocent expression. "What? I didn't say a word."

"You didn't have to. We promised we'd try and let that go. At least for the next couple of days."

"Alright, I know. It's just not that easy."

Cassie felt the anger begin to boil up inside her. She had been back two weeks the whole time her father, although pleased to see her, had been worried about what his brother was going to do next. It wasn't fair. The son of a bitch was winning. He was taking away there lives, whether he succeeded in actually killing either of them or not. Something had to be done.

She didn't have a chance to say anymore as right at that moment the door opened and her mother appeared followed by the doctor who was completing his evening rounds.

"So what's the verdict doc?" Keith asked. "How long are we gonna be stuck in here?"

"Anyone would think we were mistreating you Mr Scott." The doctor joked. "You only just had major surgery today. You're going to need to stay for a least another couple of days. As for you Miss Scott, I have the results of your blood tests back. The good news is we found no evidence of Carbon monoxide poisoning. You should be clear to go home tomorrow providing you get yourself a good nights rest tonight."

"Did the blood tests show anything out of the ordinary?" Keith asked the question that was on all their minds.

"I was just getting to that. There were traces of a sedative showing. Just standard sleeping pills. You know if there's a reason you're having trouble sleeping I can recommend a very good counselling service. At seventeen you shouldn't need to take those things. I only recommend them to patients with severe insomnia. They can become addictive."

Keith's expression darkened at the mention of the drugs but Cassie cut in before he had a chance to explain. "Yeah I um, I know I just have nights where I need a little help. I don't take them often and I've needed them even less since I came home." She lied.

Nodding, the doctor left the family to their visit.

"Why'd you lie?" Keith asked.

"Come on Dad, you saw how quick the doctor was to assume I'd been popping those pills. The fire investigator ruled the fire an accident. There's no way they'll believe me if I try to explain what really happened and you know it."

Knowing she was right, Keith sighed, his previously relaxed mood now ruined.

Trying to both change the subject and lighten the mood, Karen pulled a Tupperware tub from her bag. "I managed to sneak in some lasagne. Thought you both might be tired of hospital food by now. Especially you Mr Can't-keep-away-from-this-place."

Seeing what her mother was trying to do, Cassie played along. "Awesome I'm starved." It wasn't exactly a lie. She hadn't really thought much about food since the events of that morning and only now did she realise that she hadn't eaten since breakfast.

Keith could see straight through their act but nevertheless appreciated it and decided to let it go for tonight at least. There wasn't anything he could do right now anyway. But one thing was for certain; Dan had made a big mistake by bringing Cassie into this. He knew Cassie didn't want him doing anything stupid but if the police weren't going to do anything, then he would.


	9. Dangerous Game

**Chapter 9 – Dangerous Game**

Cassie was released the next morning after being fully checked over by the doctor. Lucas came by to pick her up, under strict instructions from his mother not to allow her out of his sight. They had stayed for a while so that Lucas could spend some time with Keith but eventually they had headed out.

Glancing over at the driver's side of the car, Cassie wondered whether to let Lucas in on her plans. She knew she would need someone to help since she stood little or no chance of being left alone for the foreseeable future and she figured Lucas was her best bet.

"Luke, I need to talk to you about something, but I need you to swear to me that you won't say a word to mom and dad."

"Uh ok. What's up?"

He looked uncertain, but Cassie forged on anyway. "We have to do something about Dan."

"Cass…"

Cutting him off she continued, "I know what you're gonna say. It's dangerous. I know that but Luke, we're all in danger anyway. I just got out of hospital from nearly being barbequed, Dad almost died, what's next? Next time it could be worse. So we really don't have anything to lose. Dad's angry. Real angry. And I have a feeling that he's planning something of his own, only I'm pretty sure his plans could land him a long stretch in jail. I know you don't want that."

"You're right, I don't. But you're forgetting that I tried to bring Dan down once before and it got me nowhere."

"Which is why we have to try again. Someone has to stop him Luke. It could be you next, or mom."

At the mention of his mother Lucas visibly tensed, not even wanting to consider Dan going after her. Cassie was right. Something had to be done. "What did you have in mind?"

"I'm not sure. We need more information. Mom will be going to the hospital tonight to visit Dad. I say we go with her and then after a while we leave, we'll say that we want to give them some time alone, then we head to the Mayor's Office and do some digging."

Lucas immediately refused. "Cass that's breaking and entering."

"No shit Sherlock." Cassie said rolling her eyes. "But it's a hell of a lot better than murder wouldn't you say?"

Sighing in defeat, Lucas reluctantly agreed and turned the car around, heading in the opposite direction to their home. "Ok, but if we're gonna do this, we need to make a stop first."

When she noticed that they were heading towards Nathan and Haley's, her eyes widened. "You promised you wouldn't say anything."

"No, I promised I wouldn't tell mom and dad. Look Cass, the last time I did some digging on Dan, it almost cost me my relationship with my brother. He deserves to know what's going on. Don't worry, we can trust him."

Half an hour later, the three of them were gathered in Nathan's living room and Cassie had just finished explaining the plan. Lucas expected Nathan to object, so he was more than surprised when he got a very different response.

"Count me in." Nathan said, without hesitation.

"You're ok with this? I thought that after last time you'd…" Lucas began but Nathan quickly cut him off.

"That was then. Cassie's right. He's never gonna let this go and next time someone could be killed. My mom doesn't know about his involvement in the fire yet but when she finds out, I know she's gonna want to confess to take the heat off Keith and as much as I hate the thought of anything happening to Keith or either of you, I'm worried for my mom."

Cassie nodded, understanding exactly where he was coming from. "Ok so the Mayor's office gets locked up at 8:30 every night. I say we meet in the alley behind it at 9:00pm."

"That's cool, Haley's at the studio tonight until 10:00. I'll just tell her I'm hanging out with Luke." Looking at his watch, Nathan suggested, "It's 11:30 now, Dad will be at the office. I still have a spare key to the beach house. I say we all head over and try our luck there before we go breaking the law."

"Sounds good to me. Mom will be at the café until at least 6:00 so that gives us enough time." Lucas agreed and without another word, the three of them headed out to Nathan's car, deciding that if Dan was to come home, Nathan's car would look a lot less suspicious than Lucas's.

A knock on the door roused Keith from the light sleep he had fallen into five minutes before. Looking up he saw Deb enter the room, closing the door behind her.

She looked at him with regret. "I'm so sorry for this Keith."

"How'd you find out?"

"Karen told me. I've just come from the café. I'm going to head down to Dan's office and tell him everything."

Keith shook his head emphatically. "No way."

"Keith, you and Cassie were almost killed. We can't let Dan continue to think that you set that fire. He won't stop until he gets his revenge."

"Yeah and what do you think will happen if you tell him it was you. It'll just turn the focus on to you, and possibly Nathan. I'll be getting out of here in a couple of days. We all just need to lay low for a while and when I'm back on my feet, I'll sort this mess out once and for all."

"Like I told you before Keith, this isn't your war." Deb stared at him, knowing exactly what he was planning.

"It became my war when he tried to hurt my daughter Deb."

Knowing she wouldn't be able to talk him out of it, she sighed. "This is all my fault. I should have just told him from the start."

"Yeah and then you could be sitting at Nathan's bedside instead of mine. Deb, trust me, just keep your head down and don't say anything. Everything will be fine." He assured.

………………………………

The computer beeped and Cassie grinned as the screen finally loaded up. "We're in."

Lucas and Nathan looked on, impressed. "Are you sure you don't really work for the CIA? I mean, you've shown your skills in martial arts and now you're hacking into computer systems. Where the hell did you learn this stuff?" Lucas asked.

Laughing, Cassie informed her brother, "A good friend of mine at school in Ohio was kind of a computer nerd. He showed me some stuff, the rest I just picked up myself."

"It's pretty cool." Nathan agreed. "Ok so what do we got?"

Cassie scanned the screen in front of her. "It looks like financial records of some sort."

"You know, when I did my digging last year, I found a ledger. It showed evidence that Dan was embezzling funds from his own business by faking invoices. He would sell a car for say $12'000 but would only print an invoice showing $9'000. I don't know what happened to the ledger, it probably burned up in the fire, but maybe he keeps evidence on here."

Cassie hit the print button while Lucas went back to rifling through the drawers in Dan's desk. On a hunch, he pulled on of the drawers all the way out to check behind and underneath it. A manila folder fell to the floor and a disk slipped out of it. Lucas opened the folder and handed Cassie the disk.

Slipping it into the drive, she opened up the media player and press play. The three couldn't help but let out a slight laugh when the screen showed a picture of former Mayor Mullins, stripped to his underwear and tied to a bed, flanked by two women who looked very much like hookers.

A familiar voice was suddenly heard from behind the camera as the scene played out in front of them.

"_Well well well Mayor Mullins? What do we have here? Sex scandal 101. Handcuffs, cocaine, skanky hookers. No offence ladies."_

"Oh my God! That's how he ended up running for Mayor. He blackmailed Mayor Mullins into resigning. " Unable to watch anymore of the sickening scene she hit the stop button, but did not remove the disk from the drive. "Ok we need a blank disk so that we can run off a copy of this. Dan will know straight away if it's missing. What's in the file?"

"Uh…" Lucas looked down at the file, unsure about showing Cassie what was inside it.

Cassie caught his expression. "Luke, what's in the file?"

Knowing it was pointless trying to hide it from her, he handed over the file.

For several seconds Cassie was silent as she flipped through the folder, trying to get her head around the contents. Finally she managed to find her voice. "My God! He's been following me since my first night back."

The file was filled from cover to cover with pictures of her. They showed her at the River Court, at Tric, at the mall with Peyton, Brooke and Haley, and even while she was working at the café. The final photo made her stomach turn. It was a photo of her and her father on the dance floor at Tric on the night of her party. She felt violated. Almost every moment that she had shared with any of her family and friends since she got home had been documented.

Nathan eyed the pictures over her shoulder. "He must have hired someone to watch you. He wouldn't have the time to stay that close to you and they look like professional shots."

The only words she managed were, "Where's the bathroom?" before she bolted from the room and emptied her stomach violently.

Unspeakable anger took over Lucas completely. "Dammit, this is ridiculous! What the hell do we have to do to stop him Nate?" When he saw Cassie re-enter the room he tried to calm down.

Nathan was too shocked to find his voice. He had known his father was capable of a lot, but for him to go this far was unbelievable. Suddenly a thought occurred to Nathan and he stood quickly, rushing to the window and glancing carefully out between the blinds.

"What are you doing?" Lucas looked at him, confused.

"We may have a problem guys. If someone has really been watching Cass, that closely, then there's every chance that they're still watching her now. Which means they've probably seen us coming in here."

Cassie sank into the chair near the computer, exhausted and more than a little frustrated. She hadn't realised the lengths that Dan was willing to go to, to get his so called revenge on her father.

"So what now? I can't take these to my Dad. He's still weak from the operation and he really doesn't need to see these. They'll really send him over the edge. But do we have enough to go to the police. I mean we don't really even know what all those numbers on the spreadsheet are about."

"Well one thing's for sure. You can't go anywhere near the office tonight. This guy seems to be focusing on you so Nathan and I will go. But that means we're gonna need to fill the girls in on what's going on. We'll need you to stay with them while we're at the office and I don't wanna lie to Brooke."

Nathan quickly agreed, "Yeah I don't wanna have to lie to Hales either. I say we get everyone together this afternoon and talk this thing over." When Lucas and Cassie both agreed, Nathan continued. "Ok now we need to get out of here as quickly as possible and we need to act as though nothing is different. I actually still have some stuff here so I'll pack a bag and it'll look like I just came by to get that." Nathan quickly left the room.

Lucas walked over and kneeled in front of Cassie. Her face was ashen but other than that, she was doing a pretty good job of keeping it together. "You ok?"

She let out a humourless laugh. "Yeah, great." As soon as the words were out she felt bad. He was just trying to look after her and here she was snapping at him. "Sorry, I'm just tired, and frustrated."

Pulling her in for a hug, he assured her, "Don't worry. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you. Since Dad is out of action I have to step up the big brother act right?" he joked, trying to lighten the mood. When she smiled slightly he knew it had worked.

"Hmm, yeah I guess the protective big brother role suits you." She appreciated the attempt at levity.

Nathan appeared in the doorway a moment later, bag in hand, and after scanning and making copies of the contents of the file, the three headed out, acting as normal as possible in case they were still being watched.

……………………………….

"What the hell is taking so long I'm starving." Brooke demanded, growing more and more impatient by the minute.

"Would you like your lunch with a side order of salmonella? We need to wait for it to cook."

It was a weekly ritual that the girls had. They would meet at Haley's place every Wednesday and do lunch, no men allowed.

"Where's Cass today anyway? Isn't she joining us?" Peyton asked.

Haley shrugged. "I tried calling her but her cell is switched off. Maybe she decided to stay at the hospital with Keith." She tested the pasta and began serving it onto three plates. "Ok it's ready."

Before they had a chance to sit down and eat, the front door opened and Nathan walked in, followed by Cassie and Lucas. As soon as the girls saw the expressions on their faces they knew something wasn't right.

"What's going on?" Haley was the first to ask.

"Uh, you guys better sit down." Nathan began.

Half an hour later, the group sat in shocked silence, lunch long since forgotten, as the girls tried to digest what Nathan had told them.

"So wait, let me get this straight. Ever since the night you got back when you and your Dad ran into Dan, he's been following you?" When Cassie only nodded, Haley shook her head in disbelief. "This is crazy."

Finding her voice, Cassie finally spoke. "I guess he sees me as the easiest way to get back at my Dad for supposedly trying to kill him. He wants revenge. He's been bitter towards my dad for a long time now and I guess thinking that he tried to kill him just tipped him over the edge."

"But you have proof now, can't you just take it to the police?" Peyton asked, still trying to process what she had been told. She'd never really liked Dan, even back when she and Nathan were dating. He gave her the creeps.

Cassie shook her head. "We didn't exactly obtain this stuff legally. I had to hack into the computer system to get the files. Plus there's still a chance that it might not be enough and we can't risk that. He's already mad enough to have me followed and try to kill me, imagine how pissed he'd be if he found out about this. No we have to wait until we know for sure that we have enough to bury him. For good."

Nathan felt a hand slip into his supportively and turned to smile at his wife. He'd made out like he was all for helping to bring his father down, but truthfully, it hurt like hell. As much as he hated him for what he was doing, a part of him still loved his father and wished that he would just let it all go.

"So what happens now?" Brooke asked.

"Well, like Cass said we need more information, so Lucas and I are heading down to the mayor's office tonight to see what we can find. But Cass can't be left alone and since Karen will be at the hospital and we don't want her or Keith knowing what's going on, we were hoping Cass could hang here with you guys since she really shouldn't be alone." Nathan explained.

Hating that her husband was resorting to breaking the law but knowing that there was no other option, Haley reluctantly agreed. "I'll call Chris and tell him I can't get to the studio tonight and we'll just hang here until you guys get back."

"Thanks Hales, I really appreciate it." Cassie smiled gratefully. "Ok well how about we head back down to the hospital big brother? I'll tell Dad we went home so that I could take a nap and change."

"Cool, let's go." They'd headed out, followed by Brooke and Peyton, who sensed that Nathan and Haley needed some alone time.

Haley closed the door behind them and turned to see Nathan sitting on the couch staring into space. Sitting down beside him she slipped comforting arms around his shoulders. "How're you doing?"

He leaned back against the couch and pulled her to him. "I'm ok I guess. I just wish there was another way around this. I wish my Dad would just let go of all this hate so we could all just be a family again. But I know that won't happen. And I can't stand by and watch him hurt Cass and Keith. I know it's the right thing to do, but it still hurts, you know?"

Knowing he didn't need words right now, she simply hugged him tighter in silent support.

……………………………………..

"Are you sure we're doing the right thing here?"

Staring straight ahead, Cassie answered without hesitation. "I'm sure Luke. We have to do something. It can't go on like this. I can't go on like this. I want to have a life here but I can't do that with Dan always hanging over my shoulder and using me to try and get back at Dad. I want to get the adoptions completed, I want to go to school with you and the guys, and most of all I want to see Mom and Dad get married. They deserve the best ceremony Luke, and I intend to make sure they have it. But that won't happen if Dan is still making everyone's lives a misery."

Knowing she was right, Lucas nodded, looking over at her briefly before turning his eyes back to the road. "Okay, you're right. I just wanted to make sure you're ok."

"I am. He's not gonna beat me Luke. Not in this lifetime. The asshole needs to learn a little lesson in karma. What goes around comes around."

"That's the Cass I know and love. Welcome back tough girl." He joked, slapping her knee lightly.

Laughing Cassie nudged him back. "Keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road. You know what our family driving history is like."

They pulled into the hospital and quickly found a parking spot. As they headed toward the doors, Lucas slipped a supportive arm around his sister. "I know you hate lying to Dad. Are you ready for this?"

She nodded. "Hopefully I won't have to lie. We'll just avoid the topic. But if it comes up then I'll have no choice. If he finds out about this he'll go crazy. I want him to recover without worrying any more than he already is."

Without another word the pair approached Keith's room, both hoping that tonight would be the night that they could end this thing once and for all.

When they entered, Cassie was thrilled to see her father sitting up and looking much better.

"Hey you. Been causing any more trouble since I left this morning?" She teased. "Me? Never. I'm a good patient. I do everything I'm told." Keith joked back.

Cassie laughed, leaning down to drop a kiss on her father's cheek. "Yeah, sure of course you do. Did you catch the news this morning? Apparently the big freeze hit hell too. It's completely frozen over."

"Ha ha. You know you should take up comedy as a career. Hey Luke."

"You're looking better. How you feeling?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah I feel a lot better. Your mom snuck in some decent food when she came by earlier which definitely helped. I actually think they serve the crap in here on purpose so that they can keep their staff employed. How're things at home?"

He hadn't actually asked what had been happening which meant Cassie didn't technically have to lie, which she was grateful for. "Yeah they're ok. We stopped by Nathan and Haley's earlier. I'm hanging out there tonight so you don't need to worry."

"Good. Ok well now that you're both here you can keep me entertained. This place gets really boring."

"Really? You wouldn't think so considering you can't seem to keep away from the place. I think you just like being waited on hand and foot." Lucas teased.

"Now that you mention it I am getting rather thirsty so how about you get me a nice cold glass of water?" Keith shot back, getting a laugh from Lucas who did as asked.

Cassie excused herself to go find something for the three of them to do, leaving Lucas and Keith alone.

"How is she really?" Keith asked.

"Worried about you." Lucas answered honestly. "Cassie's tough, she'll be ok. I promise I'll keep an eye on her."

"Thanks. How're you doing? I've been so wrapped up in worrying about Cassie that I haven't asked. You're ok right? Dan hasn't been hassling you at all?"

"Yeah I'm fine. I wish I could say the same for Nathan though. This has really hit him hard. Harder than he's letting on. I'm just glad he has Haley to support him. Apparently he went round to see Dan yesterday and really went off at him. He even told him that he wished he had died in the fire. I say stuff like that all the time but I don't have any feelings about Dan. Nathan might not show it but I know somewhere deep down he still loves him you know."

Before Keith could answer, Cassie appeared in the doorway with a large box in her arms. "You guys are not going to believe what I found." She pulled the table over to her father's bed and set the box down on top of it. "I didn't even know they still sold this game over here." She lifted the lid off the Monopoly box and pulled out the board. "How about a game?"

"I'm the boot!" Keith yelled childishly, getting into the mood.

"Ok but only because you're injured. I'll be the hat. Luke?"

"Uh, I guess I'll be the car."

Setting the pieces on the board Cassie climbed up onto the bed and began dealing out the money. "I'm so gonna kick ass."

"Oh I dunno. I grew up with this game and you're winning streak has to end somewhere.

"Is it too late to join the game?" A voice spoke from the doorway.

"Hey Mom. How come you're not at the café?" Lucas asked.

"I closed early. Figured it wouldn't break the bank." She replied, taking the fake money that Cassie handed her and placing the iron on the board.

…………………………………….

Before any of them even realised it, three hours had passed.

Lucas checked his watch. "Damn this game really eats up the time. How about I run out and get us some dinner and we can eat together?"

"Sounds good. Just don't let the doctor see you bringing it in here." Keith replied. "I say it's your mom's shout considering she has so much money."

Karen counted out her money and properties proudly. "Never underestimate a business woman."

"You're no business woman. You're a total shark." Cassie joked.

"Aww, somebody is a bad loser." Karen teased her daughter.

"Yeah yeah I'll get my rematch you'll see. I think I'll go give Luke a hand. Give you two a little time alone."

After they had left, Keith pulled Karen in for a kiss. "I missed you while you were gone."

"I was only gone like four hours." She laughed.

"Yeah but I missed you anyway. The doctor said I might be able to go home tomorrow night."

"Good. I don't know about you but I've had enough of this place to last a lifetime. You know you really scared me yesterday. I thought we were gonna lose you."

"I've told you, I'm not going anywhere. We're gonna get through this, we're gonna get married and we're gonna be a family. I promise."

Twenty minutes later Cassie and Lucas returned with dinner and the four sat down to eat, forgetting about the drama if only for a short while. However the real world soon caught up with Cassie when she noticed it was a little after eight. She glanced over a Lucas who nodded and stood up from his place in the chair.

"Ok well Cass and I are gonna head over to Haley's place and hang out for a while."

"Sure but don't stay out too late. You were only released this morning and you still need your rest." Keith warned.

"No problem Dad. I'll see you tomorrow. See you at home mom."

Once they had left the room and were out of earshot Cassie asked, "You ready for this?"

"Yup. You were right. This afternoon made me realise that we have to do something. It was fun to spend time together but we should be doing it at home not at the hospital. Dan has to be stopped."

……………………………………….

"Nathan are you sure you want to do this?"

Pulling a black sweater from the closet Nathan turned to his wife. "No, I'm not sure that I _want _to do this. But I am sure that I _have_ to do this. He needs help but he's not gonna realise that on his own. This is the only way. Plus I need to do this for Cassie, and Keith and Karen, and mostly for my mom.

Walking over to her husband she hugged him tightly. "I love you. Be careful ok."

"I will. I love you too." Taking a deep breathe Nathan pulled away and made his way out to the living room where the gang were gathered.

Lucas stood nervously, kissing Brooke goodbye and exchanging a hug with Cassie.

"Ok man, let's get this over with." Nathan said, pulling open the door to his apartment. Cassie's voice stopped him.

"Hey Nathan. You know you don't have to do this. I can go with Lucas."

He shook his head. "No way. You just got out of hospital and we don't know whether this guy is still following you. It's ok." He pulled her in for a hug.

"Thank you." She whispered into his shoulder.

Once the boys had left the room fell silent, all eyes on Cassie who hadn't moved from her position next to the open door.

"They'll be ok." Peyton assured, pulling her away from the door and closing it behind them.

"Yeah I just wish they didn't have to do this. I don't want them getting into trouble because of me." She sank down onto the couch beside Haley who placed a hand on her shoulder reassuringly.

"I'm worried too but they would've done this whether you had called it off or not. They're doing it because they care about you. We just have to sit tight and wait for them to come home."

…………………………………….

They had been silent for most of the drive, Lucas deciding it was best to leave Nathan to his thoughts. When he saw that Nathan had driven past the mayor's office, he looked over at his brother in confusion.

"Don't worry, I'm not backing out. We just need to find somewhere to park that won't look suspicious. I'll park in front of the bar across the street. I say we go into the bar and out the back door. From there we can go up the alley and cross the street to get to the office. Just in case this guy is still tailing us."

"Exactly how many James Bond movies have you seen?" Lucas joked, trying to inject some levity into a tense situation.

"Too many man." Nathan smiled, appreciating the gesture. "Ok now when we go inside, I'm gonna head straight to the bar and order a drink. You head straight to the bathroom and after a minute I'll follow you. The back doors are right near the bathrooms so we can get out quickly. It also means we'll have an alibi. I know the bartender. I'll make some small talk then tell him I'm going out back to shoot some pool."

At his brother's nod, Nathan got out and locked the car behind them and the pair walked into the bar as planned, Lucas heading straight toward the bathrooms, while Nathan headed to the bar.

"Nate, hey buddy, long time no see."

"Hey Mickey. Yeah I've been pretty busy lately. Just here to shoot some pool with my brother and relax for a night you know."

"I hear ya man! What'll it be?"

Nathan ordered two Vodka and Coke and headed out back as arranged. He met Lucas at the back of the bar. They downed the drinks and then, after checking that no one seemed to be tailing them, headed out the back door and up the alley. Luckily the street was quiet and they managed to cross into the opposite alley without a problem.

When they reached the back of the Mayor's office they stopped for a moment, quickly glancing around to make sure no one was still hanging around. It seemed to be empty.

"Here man, put these on." Nathan handed Lucas a pair of black leather gloves. When he saw his brother's expression he clarified, "So we don't leave prints."

Lucas rolled his eyes. "I know what they're for I'm just wondering exactly how many times you've done this."

Choosing to ignore the question Nathan pulled two keys from his pocket. "My Dad keeps a spare set of keys at the beach house. When you went to the hospital with Cassie, I drove out to a locksmiths just outside of town and had copies made."

"Cool, nice work. Why outside of town though?"

"A few months back, just before Keith came back, I was up late one night and I heard my Dad come into the house. He obviously waited until he knew I was asleep. So I kinda snuck into the living room so he wouldn't see me and I saw him watching a tape. It showed Keith buying a bottle of scotch at a store in town on the night of the fire. My Dad obviously thinks its evidence that Keith tried to kill him since it was the same stuff that was used to poison him. Anyway the point is he got hold of that tape and I didn't want him getting hold of any evidence of me copying the keys so I went a little further a field."

Lucas shook his head in disbelief at the lengths his brother had gone to. "You know, suddenly I'm real glad I let you in on this."

"Alright man, let's do this." Nathan opened up the gate that led into the yard behind the office and then unlocked the back door, stopping to listen out in case he had triggered an alarm. When all he heard was silence he stepped inside, Lucas following close behind him.

"Ok listen, you see that door on the left over there. That's the security room. There are no cameras in this part of the corridor or in that room so what we need to do is go in there and shut down the cameras everywhere else." Nathan whispered, heading slowly towards the door.

The room was dark, the only light coming from the three screens that showed different parts of the building. Nathan headed over and was busy looking around at the different buttons, trying to figure out how to disable the system when suddenly everything shut down and the room was plunged into total darkness. Switching on his flashlight he looked over a Lucas who was leaning against the wall grinning smugly and holding a plug in his hand.

"You see, now if they notice anything odd about the system, they'll just think it was caused by a power outage. You're not the only one who knows a thing or two about this stuff."

"Yeah yeah man. You've been watching too much of that CSI crap." Nathan teased, moving toward the door.

"Oh right, so you plan a few things well, and you're a pro, I get something right, and I watch too much TV. And by the way CSI is not crap. Its awesome dude you should check it out properly."

"Why bother when I can live it?" Nathan questioned, gesturing at there surroundings. "Come on man let's get on with it."

They headed out of the security room and up the back stairway which brought them out directly next to Dan's office. Checking to make sure all the blinds had been pulled, Lucas headed into the room and took a seat at the computer, while Nathan started with the filing cabinets and desk drawers.

…………………………………………..

"Cass, seriously, would you sit your ass down? You're making me dizzy." Peyton looked over at her friend, who she was sure was currently wearing a hole in Haley's carpet with all the pacing she was doing.

"It's been an hour and a half and we haven't heard from them. Something's wrong. I knew I shouldn't have let them do this. Dammit!"

Peyton stood from her spot on the couch and grabbed Cassie by the shoulders, stopping her incessant pacing and turning her around so that she was looking her in the eye. "Ok look, it's at least a twenty minute drive over there and I figure they won't have parked right outside the office. Not if they have any sense anyway. Then they probably talked it out for a while in the car and they would have taken their time getting into the place in case of alarms and whatever. Trust me it'll be fine. Give them time."

No sooner had she said the words than Haley's cell phone rang loudly, causing all four of them to jump.

"Nathan, is everything ok. What's happening?" Haley asked, unable to hide the worry in her voice.

"Everything's fine Hales. We're in and we're looking. Let me talk to Cass for a minute ok."

Haley passed the phone over to Cassie.

"Hey what's going on? Why'd you ring me on this phone?" Cassie asked.

"Don't freak out but I called you on Haley's phone in case there's a tap on yours. I know it sounds totally Enemy Of The State but my Dad obviously isn't doing things rationally and considering what we found out about him having you tailed I wouldn't put anything past him right now. We need your help with these systems. They look a lot like the ones on my Dad's computer at home so I was hoping you could talk us through how to get in. I'll pass you over to Luke ok?"

"Yeah ok good thinking with the phone thing. Thanks Nate."

She heard movement and whispers and then her brother's voice came over the line.

"Hey, how're you holding up?"

"I'll be a lot better once you two are out of there are back here safely" She replied.

Brooke, Peyton and Haley could only listen in disbelief as Cassie proceeded to talk Lucas through was sounded like some very complicated and very illegal hacking procedures.

"Awesome, ok we're in. Alright we're gonna have a look through this stuff and make copies of anything useful. I brought some spare disks with me. I'll give you a call if we hit anymore problems ok. Sit tight, we won't be long."

Saying her goodbyes, Cassie hung up the phone and let out a relieved breath at knowing that they were at least ok.

……………………………………………..

"It just looks like more of the same from earlier. Spreadsheets full of numbers. It makes no sense." Lucas said, confused.

"Wait a second, what's that file right there?"

Lucas clicked on the document and opened what looked like a database of invoices from the dealership.

"Oh yeah, this is definitely the same kind of stuff that was in the ledger. He's been stealing thousands of dollars not to mention committing serious tax and insurance fraud."

Nathan wished he could say he was shocked but the sad thing was, nothing that his father did surprised him anymore. Not after he had almost killed Cassie. "Ok we need to make copies of this."

They ran off several printed copies as well as saving it to disk.

"I'm gonna keep looking. Check those drawers right there. Pull them out all the way and check underneath them." Lucas instructed.

As he had thought, one of the drawers held another folder, this one considerably thicker than the last. Opening the file, Lucas stared in disbelief at its contents. There were pages and pages of information on some of the most powerful people in the town, including former Mayor Mullins, the Chief of Police, the Head of the School Board and most of the other members of the council.

"Well, now we know how he always seems to get what he wants in this town. He blackmails his way to it." Lucas skipped through the pages before handing them to Nathan to make copies.

Once they had everything they needed they shut down all the systems and put everything back in its rightful place.

"Ok that's it. Let's get the hell out of here."

…………………………………………

It was almost midnight. Karen's worry was growing. Keith had specifically told them not to stay out late. In normal circumstances she wouldn't call to check up on Lucas, not wanting to embarrass him. But these last couple of weeks had been anything but normal and Cassie had only just got out of hospital. She was about to dial the number when the back door opened and Lucas stepped in, followed by a very tired looking Cassie.

"Where have you two been? I was worried."

"Mom it's midnight. We're right on time for curfew." Lucas spoke, acting as normally as he possibly could considering he was still high on adrenaline from the last couple of hours.

"I know that but Cassie just got out of hospital this morning." She looked over at her daughter and held a hand to her forehead, checking for a fever but finding none.

"It's ok Mom. Really I'm fine. I'm just tired." Cassie assured.

"Ok well come on, bed time for you missy, and do not even think of leaving your bed before 10 in the morning. You were lucky not to be seriously injured but you still need your rest." Karen ushered her daughter off to Lucas's room while he headed toward his spot on the couch.

Collapsing onto it he stared up at the ceiling and thought back over the last couple of hours. There hadn't much time to discuss the findings from the office since they had to make it home from Nathan and Haley's, but they definitely had a lot to discuss. For starters they had to figure out what they were going to do with the information they had found. They couldn't exactly go straight to the police considering how they had obtained the files in the first place and the fact that Dan obviously had a lot of influence over the Chief of Police as well as numerous other important people. Lucas was beginning to think that they were dealing with something a lot bigger than they could handle.

_A/N – Ok so I think I've made up for the lack of updates with like 6 chapters in one night! Yes I had a long lead on my story but the bad news is that now I don't. So I'm gonna try and work on that. I'd like to always be at least one or two chapters ahead but we don't always get what we want. Hope you are all enjoying the ride!_


	10. Tears Don't Fall

**Chapter 10 – Tears Don't Fall**

She was woken from a light sleep by the sound of movement outside her bedroom door. Padding quietly over she opened the door and caught a glimpse of her father just as he was leaving the house. Quickly throwing on some jeans and sneakers and grabbing one of Luke's sweaters for warmth she tiptoed down the hallway and followed her father out into the night.

An eerie mist had descended over the town and Cassie shivered, pulling the sweatshirt tighter around her body. She could see her father in the distance and she called out to him several times but received no response. She tried to pick up the pace and catch him up but he only seemed to get further away. Where the hell was he going?

As she rounded a corner she saw the familiar building and frowned in confusion. She looked around, her eyes frantically searching for her father. Suddenly she heard the faint sound of a door opening and broke into a jog towards where the sound had come from. She approached just in time to see someone disappear into the building.

Walking warily up to the door she opened it and slipped inside silently. The room was empty. Strange. She could have sworn she had just seen her father come in here. What was he even doing coming here at this time of night anyway?

As she approached the small office at the back of the shop she noticed the door was hanging open and she could make out an object lying in the middle of the office desk. A feeling of cold dread suddenly stirred in the pit of her stomach and she had the distinct feeling that something was very wrong.

Her every instinct screamed at her to get out. She wanted to turn and run but for some reason her feet wouldn't allow it and they continued in the direction of the office desk. As she neared the doorway she was able to make out what the object was. It was a photo frame. She crossed the room and picked up the picture. It was of the four of them. Her family. Cassie, Lucas and her parents. It had been taken the night of her welcome home party. She studied the picture carefully and suddenly she knew what was wrong. In the background of the picture she was able to make out a figure standing in the doorway of the club.

Dropping the picture she spun around and only then did she notice that the office door had somehow closed behind her. She darted across the room and pulled open the door, only to be met by a gust of scorching hot air as flames engulfed the shop, blocking her only exit.

Cassie shot up in bed, her whole body drenched with sweat. Frantically scanning her surroundings, her breathing slowed slightly when she recognised her brother's room. Placing a hand on her rapidly beating heart she took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Calm down Cassie." She told herself quietly. "It was just a dream. Just breathe."

It had been two days since Lucas and Nathan had gone to the Mayor's office. The day after, her mom had told her in no uncertain terms that she was to spend at least the next couple of days at home resting. She had tried to argue that she was fine but her mother had simply given her the choice between staying home voluntarily for a couple of days, or being grounded for a whole week. She knew Karen was just worried about her and she also knew that being grounded would do her no favours since she needed to get together with the guys to discuss their next move. So she had agreed. Her father had been released that evening and so she had spent the following day watching movies at home with him while Lucas helped out at the Café in her absence. She had avoided mentioning Dan so as not to get her father stressed out and also to avoid an accidental slip of the tongue about their recent findings. But she had felt it in the air between them the whole day.

Slipping quietly out of bed, she padded to the kitchen, deciding that a cup of hot cocoa might help her sleep. She entered the room and jumped at the sight of a figure sitting at the table.

"Jeez Dad you scared me!"

Chuckling softly he pulled out the seat next to him and motioned for her to sit down. "Sorry. Couldn't sleep huh?"

She shook her head. "I had another dream."

"About the fire?"

"Kind of." She figured it wouldn't hurt to tell him the details since it didn't involve anything about the break in. "I was woken up by a noise and when I looked out here I saw you leaving the house. So I followed you and we ended up at your old auto shop. I saw you go in but when I went in after you the place was empty. Then I noticed that the office door was open and there was something lying on the desk. It was a photograph of the four of us from the party at Tric just after I got back. I got this really weird feeling, like something was wrong. So I turned to leave but the office door was closed and when I pulled it open the place was on fire. I couldn't get out."

Keith took his daughter's hand in his own. "You know the doctor said nightmares are normal after something like that happens. They'll fade honey."

He stood and took a mug from the kitchen cabinet adding three spoonfuls of hot chocolate and boiling water from the kettle. He handed the drink to Cassie who accepted it gratefully.

"You read my mind." She smiled up at him. "But I'm pretty sure I should be the one doing this for you."

"Making hot chocolate is not a strenuous activity and if I can't make my little girl feel better after a nightmare then what can I do? Come on, let's finish these in the living room now that Lucas isn't taking it up"

Lucas and Nathan had gone to the mall the day before to pick up what would be Cassie's new bed and had then begun painting her room. Because of the paint fumes Lucas had offered to stay in Cassie's room until it was finished. Her chest was still bothering her slightly from the smoke inhalation and they didn't want to take any chances.

Finishing her cocoa, Cassie set the mug down on the floor and turned to her father. "I never thanked you for pulling me out of that fire."

"There's no need. I'm your Dad. It's kinda in the job description." Keith laughed. "Anyway you should be heading back to bed." He noticed her hesitation and realised just how much the dream had rattled her. "Hey. Come here."

She leaned into him, resting her head on his chest as he wrapped comforting arms around her shoulders.

……………………………………..

A bright ray of sunlight fell over the bed, stirring Karen from sleep. Without opening her eyes she rolled over and was surprised to find an empty space beside her. She got out of bed and headed to the living room. Stopping in the doorway she felt a smile spread across her face at the sight before her.

Father and daughter were curled up on the couch, both sleeping soundly.

She tried as best she could to tiptoe quietly across to the kitchen, not wanting to disturb their peace. Unfortunately her plan failed as Keith began to stir, glancing sleepily around the room before his eyes settled on his fiancée.

"Hey. I'm guessing she had another dream."

Keith nodded and shifted slightly, careful not to wake his daughter. Luckily she didn't even stir as he eased himself off the couch and followed Karen into the kitchen.

"How're you feeling?" Karen asked, smirking when Keith rolled his eyes.

"Are we trying to set the record for how many times one person can ask that question?" Wrapping his arms around her from behind as she prepared a fresh pot of coffee, he answered her question. "I'm actually feeling a lot better. I feel a lot stronger than I did. Not as tired."

"Good. I'm sure you'll be back on your feet in no time."

"I have to be."

Noting the serious expression on his face, Karen felt her heart drop as she was reminded of the reason they were in this situation in the first place. "You know, I always knew Dan was a monster but I have to admit I didn't realise how screwed up he actually is until the fire. I know he likes to make sure he always wins but the lengths he's going to this time….I guess I just didn't expect it even of Dan."

"Yeah well that makes two of us. He's got a lot of hate for me. It's not just about him thinking I tried to kill him. That's just the icing on the cake for him. He's got it into his head that I interfered with his world by becoming a part of Lucas's life, and yours." He averted his eyes as he said the next part. "Then there's what happened with Deb."

Karen looked away. She didn't want to be reminded of what had happened between her fiancé and the woman who had quickly and unexpectedly become her best friend.

"Anyway the point is," Keith continued, "as far as Dan is concerned he has every reason in the world to hate me."

"Oh please. It's not like he hasn't put you through your fair share. He stole your dealership idea and did his best to rub it in your face; he did his best to publicly humiliate you on several occasions; he took your auto shop; and what about Jules."

Keith let out a humourless laugh. "Yeah well somehow I don't think Dan really gives all that a lot of thought. But he made one big mistake. He messed with my daughter. I almost lost her. Any chance there might have been for Dan to become a human being and for us to actually salvage any kind of relationship burned up in that fire. The gloves are off. I won't allow him to put my family at risk."

On the other side of the door Cassie listened in on the conversation and felt her pulse notch. She had known how her father would react to what Dan had done but hearing him talk that way scared her. She had already lost her mother and the thought of losing him, either to death or to jail, was more than she could bear.

Pretending like she hadn't heard a word of the conversation she entered the kitchen. "Morning guys." She stifled a yawn with her hand.

"Morning sleeping beauty." Keith joked.

"Yeah well you make a pretty comfortable pillow. So what's on the agenda for today? I swear I cannot spend another full day stuck inside. I'll go stir crazy."

Karen handed a fresh cup of coffee to her daughter. "Well I have to be at the café and Lucas is heading over to Brooke's so it's up to you guys. The doctor said your father can have a little mild exercise, maybe a short walk would do you both some good."

………………………………

"Let's go for a walk." When Lucas groaned childishly Brooke couldn't help the smirk that she felt beginning to grow. "Come on Broody. You need to get out and get all this stuff with Dan off your mind. At least for a little while. It's gorgeous out there. Pretty please?" She put on her best pout and puppy dog eyes that she knew he couldn't resist.

"Oh no! Don't pull that one…. Brooke cut it out you know I….. Damn it! Fine!" He groaned good naturedly. "Let's go for a damn walk. But can you please pick some shoes that don't have two inch heels this time? This was your idea so I don't wanna hear you complaining that your feet are blistering like last time."

Loving the teasing smile on her boyfriend's face and the fact that he seemed to be relaxing slightly, Brooke nodded and with a quick kiss she ran off to her room to get ready.

"You're hopeless you know that! All she has to do is pout and you're practically on your knees."

Lucas laughed. "Good morning to you too Peyton."

She yawned sleepily and headed into the kitchen. Lucas followed and leaned against the counter as she set about making a much needed cup of strong coffee.

"So what are you and Jake up to today?"

"Um, he's heading over here with Jenny soon and we're gonna take her swimming. Then I think we're just gonna head over to the café for lunch."

Lucas loved the blissful look on Peyton's face when she talked about Jake and Jenny. Despite all that had happened in the past he cared about Peyton a lot and it was good to see her happy. It was also nice to see everything back to normal between her and Brooke. They seemed to be closer than ever, especially now that Brooke had moved in with Peyton and Larry.

"I'm really glad everything's going so well for you Peyton. It's really great to see you so happy."

"Yeah." Peyton smiled and handed a cup of the steaming liquid to Lucas. "It's pretty great to feel so happy. I really think everything is gonna work out this time. I can't explain it, I just feel it."

At that moment they heard what sounded like a herd of elephants rushing down the stairs and Peyton picked up the third cup of coffee and held it out ready as Brooke bounded into the room looking ready to take on the world.

"P. Sawyer you read my mind as always." She took the offered drink and sipped it tentatively to make sure it wasn't too hot.

"Yeah yeah I just didn't want anyone to have to suffer you without your morning caffeine kick. I have to live with you so I don't really have any choice but I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy." Peyton laughed as her best friend dipped her hand in the kitchen sink and flicked a handful of water at her.

"Ha! This coming from the girl who bitched out the mail man last week for knocking too loud." Finishing her coffee she put the empty mug in the sink and grabbed her boyfriend's hand. "It's a good job I love ya!" She said to Peyton, narrowing her eyes teasingly as she passed.

"I'm truly honoured." Peyton shot back. "Hey Jake and I will be taking Jenny to the café around one if you guys wanna join us."

"Sounds like a plan. See you guys there." Brooke yelled back, closing the door behind her as she dragged Lucas out into the morning sun.

…………………………………….

Considering it was the weekend the music store was pretty quiet. This didn't bother Haley though. In fact she enjoyed browsing the CD's when it was like this, not having to worry about ignorant people pushing and shoving or little kids screaming at the top of their lungs. Finding what she was looking for she picked up the latest album by The Wreckers. Looking at the faces of the two band members who had not so long ago been her friends she found her mind drifting back to the time when she had made the most difficult choice of her life. Shaking off the feelings of nostalgia she headed to the front of store and paid for the CD.

As she headed back to her car she passed by a place that now gave her chills every time she looked at it. She couldn't help but glance over at the Mayor's office and wonder what Nathan had felt as he and Lucas had rifled through the countless files and searched the computer systems.

Her thoughts were broken when out of the corner of her eye she caught movement in the alley at the side of the building. Looking over she saw her father in law talking to a man she didn't recognise. Every one of her instincts were screaming at her to look away and keep walking before he noticed her. But she couldn't move. Her eyes were glued to the spot where the two men stood.

The man she didn't recognise pulled a large envelope out of his jacket and handed it to Dan. Haley noticed the pleased look on Dan's face when he checked the contents of the envelope. Remembering what her husband had told her about Dan hiring someone to follow Cassie, she wondered if this was the man in question and she studied his face carefully so that she would be able to recognise him if she saw him again.

When she saw the man turn to leave, she quickly ducked into the store behind her, not wanting Dan to see her watching them. Pretending to browse the store she waited until the two men had disappeared from sight and then left, heading straight to her car.

Placing her bags in the trunk she turned and collided head on with the very person she had wanted to avoid.

"In a hurry?" Dan asked as he towered over her.

"Mr Scott. I...I was just…heading home."

"Yeah I'll bet you were." He said, blocking her path to the car door with an arm and at the same time trapping her between him and the side of the vehicle. "Here's a piece of fatherly advice for you little girl. Next time you want to spy on someone, at least make an effort to stay out of sight."

"I don't know what you're talking about." She tried to sound sincere but fear caused her voice to come out as no more than a whisper.

"Oh I think you do. I also think you were in such a rush because you wanted to get home so you could tell your husband exactly what you saw his daddy doing and that wouldn't be a very smart move."

"Neither would threatening your son's wife. Get the hell away from her."

Haley had never been so happy to hear her best friend's voice. She glanced past Dan and saw an angry Lucas with Brooke by his side, who looked about as scared as she felt. When Dan turned to look at his oldest son Haley took the opportunity to get out of arms reach and moved to stand beside Brooke, who slipped a comforting and protective arm around her shoulders.

Once Haley was out of harms way, Lucas stepped forward and squared up to his birth father.

Dan just laughed. "You wanna take on the old man? Go ahead Lucas. Take your best shot."

Lucas swung angrily at Dan but he simply ducked to the side. Before Haley and Brooke knew what was happening Dan had grabbed Lucas by the throat and pinned him roughly against Haley's car.

"Lucas!" Brooke cried out when she saw her boyfriend begin to gasp for air as Dan's hand tightened its hold. She made a move towards him but Dan's voice stopped her.

"Stay where you are Barbie! I wouldn't be trying any heroics if I were you." Turning back to his son, he taunted, "You remember what happened the last time we were in this situation Lucas. I could easily squeeze the air out of your lungs right here just like I could have in that gym." He tightened his grip once more as Lucas struggled for breath. "But what fun would that be?"

He released his grip and Lucas fell to the ground, coughing and gasping for air. Brooke rushed to his side, tears streaming down her face.

Dan looked down at the pair. "Aww how sweet. Quite the little family you guys have going on around here. Be a shame if anything happened to ruin that." With one last glance at Haley, he turned and left.

Once he was out of sight Haley let out the breath she had been holding and dropped to her knees next to her friends.

"Are you ok?" Lucas managed ask.

"You're kidding right? He almost strangled you to death and you're asking if I'm ok. Come on we better get you home."

"No! No I can't go home. Keith and Cass will be there. I don't want them to find out about this."

Brooke knew it would be no use trying to convince him to tell his parents about his encounter with Dan. "Ok well we can't go back to my place. Larry's getting back today and he'll know straight away that something happened."

"It's ok we'll go back to my place." Haley offered. "But Nathan's gonna be there and I don't want to lie to him Lucas."

Still trying to get his breath back, Lucas only nodded and let the two girls help him up from the ground.

…………………………….

Watching her father for any sign of pain or tiredness, Cassie walked slowly, her arm linked through his.

"Would you like it in writing?" Keith said as he rolled his eyes, no longer able to pretend that he couldn't see her watching him like a hawk.

"Huh? Like what in writing?"

"A formal statement to say that I am fine." He chuckled when he saw the confused look on his daughter's face replaced by a mock glare.

"You know someone once asked me if it was a crime to worry about someone they loved."

Not missing a beat Keith replied, "Yeah speaking of that, did they get around to changing it yet?" The comment earned him a light slap on the arm. "Hey watch it. Injured man here you know."

Cassie shook her head and let out a laugh. "You're impossible."

Turning serious Keith looked at his daughter and asked the question that had been playing on his mind since the fire. "So are you ever gonna tell me what happened?"

"What do you mean? What happened with what?"

"The fire. You haven't really talked to me about it at all. I mean, you told me that it was Dan but you didn't tell me exactly what happened. And judging by the nightmares you've been having I'm guessing it's not that you don't remember. I know that you think you have to protect me because of the operation but I'd really like for you to talk to me."

Sighing, she led them over to a bench nearby. They were in a quiet area of the neighbourhood so she didn't have to worry about anyone overhearing. Plus she knew he was right. She'd be the first one to try and get him to open up if it was the other way around. "I guess I just didn't want to stress you out any more than you already were. That's what he wants you know. He wants to see you scared."

Keith said nothing, silently urging his daughter to continue.

Taking a deep breath, Cassie began. "I was upstairs packing up my room, most of the stuff was still in boxes from when Grandma shipped it over anyway so it wasn't gonna take long. Then you called and I came downstairs to make a drink of juice while you were on the phone. Once I hung up I left my juice on the counter." She looked her father in the eye as she said the next words, knowing it would hurt him. "I left my phone next to the juice. I never took it back upstairs with me." She saw his jaw tighten slightly as he realised that it had been his brother who had made the phone call. "Anyway about 15 minutes later when I was back upstairs the Staind CD that I had playing downstairs skipped…to Zoe Jane."

Keith closed his eyes as a wave of nausea washed over him. That son of a bitch. He'd used the song that they had danced to, the one that had meant so much to Keith during the time that he and Cassie had been apart. He'd taken something special and ruined it. Now whenever Cassie heard that song, she'd be tortured with memories of that awful day instead of the good memories it should be associated with. Then another thought struck him. How did he know about the song? He must have seen them at the party. Which could only mean one thing; Dan had been following her since her first night back in Tree Hill.

Cassie took a steadying breath and held back the tears that were filling her eyes as she continued. "Anyway, I thought that was strange so I went downstairs to check, thinking it might be Luke or one of the guys trying to be funny. But there was no-one there so I just put it down to a really weird coincidence. I went to the kitchen and finished my juice then headed back upstairs but when I got to the doorway of my room I started to feel weird. Kinda light-headed and dizzy. Then I heard a voice behind me and I turned around and he was just standing there. He asked if I was feeling out of sorts but before I could say anything the room started spinning and I collapsed."

The tears were flowing freely for both of them now. Keith reached up and wiped his daughter's away but more quickly replaced them. He held onto her hand tightly as she spoke.

"I was so scared. I tried to stay awake. I tried so hard but I couldn't. The last thing I remember is his voice. He said, don't fight it honey, just close your eyes. And I did. God I was sure I was dying. I saw it you know."

"Saw what?" Keith asked softly.

"What would happen after I died. I saw you guys at home. I saw you at my funeral. Mom and Lucas were crying but you were just kind of blank. Dan was there. None of you saw him but he was there, in the background wearing the same smug grin he always wears."

"Listen to me," Keith took her face in his hands and looked her in the eye. "What you saw, that's not gonna happen. I won't let it. I promise you Cassie."

She nodded through her tears and Keith pulled her close. He was barely keeping a lid on his anger. He knew that the main reason she hadn't talked to him in the first place was because she knew how angry he would be and she was worried of what he would do. So he held it in, for her sake. But silently he swore to himself that his brother would pay for this. If it ever came to him and Dan being face to face again, one of them would die. He was sure of that.


	11. The End Has Only Begun

_Hey guys sorry about the wait. Here's the next chapter. I'm away on holiday for the next week. Chapter 12 is already written but I'm not sure I'm totally happy with it so I may make some changes when I get back which is why I'm not posting it right now. So I have a little request. Once you've read this it would be really helpful if you could tell me what you'd like to see happen in Chapter 12 so I know whether I've hit the mark or whether I need to rewrite some parts. Thanks. Anyway on with the show…………._

**Chapter 11 – The End Has Only Begun**

When the door to his apartment opened Nathan looked up from the Playstation game he was currently losing and saw his wife, followed by Brooke, and Lucas, who was rubbing his neck.

"Jeez man, what happened to you?"

"Dan happened," was all Lucas said and he sat down next to his brother on the couch accepting the glass of water that Haley was offering, gratefully.

For the first time since they'd walked in Nathan took a good look at Haley and Brooke. He could see the tear stains on Brooke's face and his wife was clearly shaken up.

"What's going on guys?"

Haley took a deep breath, knowing that Nathan was going to fly off the handle when she told him about Dan threatening her. "Ok Nathan you have to promise me that you're not going to freak out."

"I would Hales, but judging by the look on your face and the fact that Brooke has clearly been crying I don't think that's a promise I'm gonna be able to keep, and you know how you hate lying. Just tell me."

Knowing he was right, she decided just to say it. "Ok well when I was shopping today I saw Dan talking to someone in the alley way beside his office. The guy handed Dan some kind of envelope and it all looked kinda suss. Anyway when I saw the guy go to leave I went into the shop behind me so that your Dad wouldn't see me but I guess he did anyway because when I left and went to my car he cornered me."

Lucas remained quiet through all of this. His throat was still causing him pain and he knew that Haley would be the only one who would be able to keep his brother calm.

Nathan was out of his seat the second she said the last words. "What do you mean cornered you? Did he touch you?"

"No he didn't get a chance. He said that he'd seen me watching him and that it wouldn't be a smart move for me to come rushing home and tell you…."

"HE THREATENED YOU!" Nathan interrupted, losing it completely. He grabbed the car keys from where they lay on the counter and was about to head out the door when Haley stepped in his path.

"Nathan please you have to calm down. Lucas arrived before anything happened but they got into a fight. Dan was choking him. Nathan he tried to stand up for me and look at him. Please I don't want you going over there."

Losing his patience, Nathan hurled the keys across the apartment. "This is getting beyond ridiculous. When the hell is all this just gonna stop? I wish the bastard had burned up in that fire."

The room fell silent as the group dealt with their shock at his words. Everyone knew the relationship between Nathan and his father was tentative at best but the fact that Nathan would wish his father dead showed just how serious the situation was.

"Nathan you don't mean that."

"Don't I? Let's just recap Haley. He rode me about basketball until I took drugs to avoid disappointing him; he drove my mom to pop pills; he hired a hooker to seduce his brother; he assaulted Cassie on the beach just days after she came home; he almost killed his brother by running him off the road AND setting fire to his house which by the way could have killed Cassie too; and now he threatens you and almost chokes Luke to death! I mean, where would you like me to stop because I could go on and on and I'm sure Luke has got a hell of a lot to add to the list! The man is a psycho Haley. We'd all be better off without him."

Even as he said the words, Haley could feel the pain that was coursing through him. She remained silent, partly because she was shocked at his outburst and partly because she knew he needed to get it out.

Letting out an angry breath, Nathan leaned against the kitchen counter and tried to calm himself down. After a moment he turned back to face them. "Guys, this can't go on. We gotta do something and we gotta do it now. But we can't do it alone. I think it's time we all stopped hiding things from each other and just got everything out in the open. Luke, call your mom and get her to come to my mom's place at around seven tonight with Keith and Cassie. Brooke call Peyton, she's been ok so far but who the hell knows how far Dan is willing to go. Get her and Jake over there too. I'll call my mom. It's time to talk this thing out once and for all."

The rest of the group nodded in agreement, knowing that if they were going to be able to stop Dan Scott, they were going to have to do it together.

………………………………………

"How you doin' kiddo?" Keith asked, handing his daughter a cup of steaming hot chocolate, just as he had the night before when she'd had the nightmare. It had been a thing of hers since she was small. It just seemed to calm her somehow. Most kids had a stuffed toy or a blanket, she had hot chocolate.

"I'm ok. I guess it just brought it all back, talking about it you know? I needed to though. Thank you for not getting mad before. I know it was hard for you to hear."

"Here ya go! One breakfast special, on me! Figured I owe you a couple anyway since you've made them most mornings." Karen set the plate down in front of Cassie and then sat down at the table beside her.

Seeing both her parents watching her with concern she set her fork down and looked back up at them. "Honestly guys I'm ok. You can stop worrying about me I'm not about to have a nervous breakdown."

"Asking any parent to stop worrying about their child is like asking them to stop breathing. Even without all this drama we'd find something to worry about. That's just what we do." Karen dropped a kiss in her daughter's hair and headed back over to the counter.

………………………………………

Lucas watched his family as they sat around the small café table. He knew the last thing Keith needed to hear was what they were going to have to tell him tonight. He also knew how Cassie would react to the suggestion that they should tell them. She already had to have a full time babysitter because Keith was so worried about her and Lucas knew it was driving her crazy. He wished more than anything that there was another way to sort this mess out. But his brother was right. They couldn't handle Dan on their own.

As he entered he saw Cassie look up from where she was finishing breakfast. Keith was sat beside her. He wanted to talk to Cassie first and fill her in on the morning's events so that she wouldn't be blindsided when they got to Deb's that evening.

"Hey guys. Uh Cass, can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Secret teenager stuff huh?" Keith smirked. "Ok ok I'm gone."

Lucas sat down at the table and got straight to the point. "Cass something happened with Dan this morning."

She didn't even flinch which surprised him. He couldn't help but feel proud of how well she was taking all of this. Her life had been nothing but drama since she returned to Tree Hill and yet she was seemingly taking it all in her stride.

"Um, Haley was shopping near the Mayor's office and she saw Dan talking to some guy who handed him an envelope. We don't know what exactly was in it but it could be the guy that's been tailing you. Anyway he must have seen her watching him because when she got to her car he cornered her….."

"Is she ok?" Cassie interrupted.

Lucas held up his hands to calm her down. "She's fine. Brooke and I got there before anything happened but I kinda got into a bit of a fight with him and as usual I ended up the worst off."

"What happened?"

"That happened." Lucas moved his head to the side to show the marks that Dan's hand had left on his neck.

"This guy seriously needs a lesson in people skills." Cassie said as anger began to take over.

"Yeah. Anyway when Nathan found out he went crazy. Haley just managed to stop him from going over there. The thing is, he thinks it's time we got everything out in the open. He wants everyone to meet at his mom's place tonight. Including Mom and Dad. He wants to tell them everything." Anticipating her reaction he held up a hand signalling her to let him continue. "Look I know you don't want to freak out Dad and believe me I'm not exactly looking forward to their reaction about the break in but I think Nathan's right. We can't handle this by ourselves Cass. Someone's gonna get hurt."

Cassie sighed and put her head in her hands. After a moment she looked back up at Lucas and nodded. "Alright. Ok you're right. But we need to tell them now. I don't want them to be blindsided tonight with everyone around."

Seeing the expression on Cassie's face, Keith and Karen headed over to where the two were seated.

"What's going on guys?" Keith asked.

Taking a deep breath Cassie looked up at her father. "You guys better sit down. There's something you need to know."

………………………………..

"You broke into your father's office! Nathan what the hell were you thinking? No actually scratch that, you obviously weren't."

"Mom we had to do something. He almost killed Cassie and Keith. Cassie can't even leave the house without wondering whether she's being followed. He's gone totally over the edge." Nathan tried to explain but his words were doing nothing to lessen his mother's anger.

"And what would have happened if he'd caught you and Lucas there? You're absolutely right, your father has sunk to new depths this time so what makes you think he wouldn't hurt you, or Lucas. It was stupid Nathan. I know you were trying to help Cassie but you put yourself in danger. You should have come to me."

"Why? So that you could run to him and tell him the truth? How would that have helped Mom? We'd still be in the same situation that we are now, except that I'd be doing this to protect you instead of Cassie."

Deb looked over at her daughter in law, who had so far remained quiet. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine Mrs Scott, really."

"I'm sorry that you ended up involved in this Haley."

"It's ok. It's not your fault. But Nathan's right. He's totally out of control. I didn't want him breaking into the office either but we honestly couldn't think of any other way."

Nodding, Deb sat down at the breakfast bar of her home. "Ok so everyone will be coming over here at what, around 7?"

"Yeah. I figured it's time everyone got things out in the open so that we can figure out a way to sort this mess out. Brooke is bringing Peyton and Jake and Lucas has gone to tell his Mom and Keith.

……………………………………..

The silence around the table was starting to unnerve Cassie. She'd expected her father to get mad both at Lucas for breaking into Dan's office and at Dan for this whole situation. She wished he would say something, anything.

Lucas was the first to speak. "Look I know you guys are probably mad at what I did, but we honestly couldn't think of another way around it."

"Telling me would have been a nice place to start." Karen's voice was surprisingly calm.

"We didn't want to worry you. Dad had just had his operation and I knew that if we told you, you'd try to stop me."

"What you did was stupid Lucas but I understand why you did it. I'm proud of you for trying to help your sister but next time, please try to find a way that doesn't involve breaking the law and putting yourself in danger."

Keith still hadn't spoken and Cassie was beginning to get worried. "Dad. You haven't said anything. Are you mad?"

"No honey I'm not mad. Not with you anyway. Like your mother said what you guys did was stupid but I get why you did it. I'm just trying to process all of this. I figured he'd followed us that night at Tric but I never expected him to take it this far. Where is this file now?"

"At Nathan and Haley's place." Lucas answered. "Nathan's gonna bring it to Deb's place tonight."

"God Deb. I didn't even think about how she must be feeling. This has got to be hard on her." Karen said, remembering for the first time, her friend's part in all this.

"Yeah she came to see me in the hospital. She said she wanted to tell Dan the truth about the fire but I stopped her. I don't think it would make much difference at this point except that she would end up in just as much danger."

When she saw her father rubbing his forehead, Cassie stood. "Ok I think it's time we headed home. Tonight's gonna be tough and it could be a long night. You need some rest."

He would have disagreed but it was three to one and he knew he wouldn't get anywhere. "Alright. Let's go."

Lucas stood at the same time and offered to give them a ride home.

"I'll close up here around six and come pick you up." Kissing her fiancé as he left Karen felt something stirring in the pit of her stomach. This definitely wasn't over. Something told her it was just beginning.

…………………………………….

The ringing phone stirred him from his thoughts. After checking the caller id he smiled and answered.

"What do you have?" He listened intently to the voice on the other end and let out a laugh. "Tonight huh? Ok. Stay close to her and the minute you get an opportunity you know what to do. No, not the beach house. That's the first place they'll go. The high school. Yeah. It's perfect."

He hung up without another word and smiled to himself. They honestly thought they could beat him did they? Well they'd learn.

………………………………………

Lucas flopped down onto the sofa and closed his eyes. Cassie and Keith had both decided to have a nap before they headed to Deb's but he knew there was no way he'd be able to sleep. There were too many thoughts swirling around inside his head.

Was this whole thing with Dan ever going to end? Who else was going to end up hurt in the process? It was obvious to him that at this point Dan was pulling out all the stops to get revenge for what he thought Keith had done. And that scared Lucas because he knew what Dan was capable of at the best of times.

"Hey Broody. You ok?"

Brooke. Right at the moment when he needed something to take his mind off all the drama that was going on, Brooke was there. She always was. Thinking back over the last couple of years he couldn't believe the mess he'd almost made of his relationship with her. He knew that he could have lost her for good. And he thanked God every day that she had such a forgiving heart. There was no question in his mind that he loved this girl. With everything he had.

Pulling her down onto the couch beside him he claimed her lips with his own and kissed her with a passion that he didn't even know he had in him.

When they finally broke for air Brooke looked him in the eye. "Wow. Where did that come from?"

"I just love you, that's all. I don't say it often enough."

"Doesn't mean I don't know it." She replied softly. "You didn't answer my question. You ok?"

"Yeah I was just thinking about everything that's been going on, you know, with Dan and Cassie. I don't think I've ever seen Keith as scared as he is right now."

"I have." When she saw her boyfriend look at her in confusion she explained. "The day of the shooting at the high school. Your mom came to get me because they wouldn't let us leave without an adult. We were standing outside and your mom was crying. Keith was trying to be strong for her but I could see it in his eyes. He was terrified that something was gonna happen to you. Then he told us he'd be right back, that he was gonna talk to Dan. The next thing we knew he was walking out with the paramedics as they brought out Jimmy's body. He really loves you Lucas. So do I."

"We should be sitting here planning their wedding. Not talking about Dan and how we're gonna stop this madness. It's crazy."

"I have a better idea. Cassie's asleep in your room right?" When he gave her a confused nod she continued. "And all her stuff has been brought over from Keith's place?"

"Yeah, the fire never reached the first floor so it wasn't damaged." Suddenly he caught on to his girlfriend's idea. "Ahh Miss Davis I see where you are going with this. Let's go."

…………………………………………

Several hours later Cassie awoke to the sound of banging coming from down the hall. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes she climbed out of bed and wandered out of the bedroom to see what the noise was about. She saw her Dad coming out of his room at the same time and when he sent her a questioning glance she simply shrugged and the two of them headed toward the spare room where the noise seemed to be coming from.

When she opened the door to what was going to be her room Cassie's eyes widened as she took in her surroundings. Her room had been completely transformed. Her walls were a light cream colour and posters of all her favourite bands had been placed around the room. Pictures of her as a little girl with her mom had been framed and a shelf had been put up to hold them. Candles had also been placed on either side of the shelf as well as in other spots around the room. Other pictures including some of her father and her grandparents had also been framed and were standing on top of a large chest of drawers. All of her books and cds had been unpacked and loaded onto a set of shelves that had been assembled. A gorgeous blue bedspread had been put on and several scatter cushions had been placed neatly on top. To sum it up in one word, it was gorgeous.

Lucas and Brooke had spun around at the sound of the door opening.

"Uh oh, busted!" Lucas grinned sheepishly.

"Guys this is…wow! I don't know what to say." Cassie was still too amazed to form a coherent sentence. Her eyes fell upon the shelf that contained the pictures of her mother and she felt tears begin to form. Heading over to the shelf she picked up one of the pictures and stared at it for a long moment. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see that her father had come to stand behind her. She leaned back into him as he placed a comforting kiss on her forehead. Turning back to Brooke and Lucas she smiled gratefully. "Thank you so much for this. It's amazing."

"You like it?" Brooke asked, happy that she had gotten everything just right.

"Like it? I love it." Cassie wrapped her arms around Brooke and then her brother.

A voice from the hallway broke their thoughts. "Keith, Cassie, are you guys…." Her words died in her throat when she stepped into the doorway of Cassie's room. "Wow."

Cassie laughed. "Yeah, that's what I said."

"This is gorgeous." Looking at her son and his girlfriend she shook her head in amazement. "You two are just full of surprises aren't you? Maybe I'll go away for five years if I'm gonna get parties and rooms decorated for me when I get back."

The group shared one last laugh before Cassie realised the reason her mom must be home. "Is it time already?"

Karen put a hand on Cassie's shoulder and nodded. "Almost. I came home a little early because I need to go over to the club on the way to pick up some supplies for the café that were sent there by mistake."

"I can do that if you like. I have to take Brooke home anyway. She's heading over with Peyton and Jake in a while." Lucas offered.

"Yeah I think I'll come along if it's ok. I need some air." Cassie said quietly, following her brother and Brooke out the door.

"Alright." Karen handed her son the keys to the club. "We'll meet you guys at Deb's place. Don't be long."

…………………………………….

They headed to Brooke's place first. While Lucas and Brooke headed into the living room for five minutes rest after their afternoon of hard work, Cassie headed straight up to Peyton's room.

"Hey."

Peyton looked up from her sketch book. "Oh hey. I thought you'd be heading over to Deb's place by now. Jake just left to take Jenny home and then we're gonna head over there ourselves. How're you doin'?"

"I'm ok I guess. I just don't want to have to deal with all the sympathetic looks and people feeling like they have to treat me like glass, you know."

"Yeah I know what you mean. I had to deal with that after the shooting. It drove me crazy. I knew they were doing it because the cared about me but it still got under my skin. I can't promise you won't have to deal with it, but I can promise you won't have to deal with it from me."

"Thanks Peyton. So in other news I got quite a surprise when I woke up from my nap today." Cassie knew Peyton would already be aware of it. Brooke would have called her for advice on what posters to buy and what colours to go for since they were both very similar in their tastes.

"Ah yes how did the great decorating escapade turn out?"

Smiling both at Peyton's sarcasm and at the memory of what Lucas and Brooke had done for her she flopped down onto the bed, laying on her stomach with her chin resting in her hands. "It was unbelievable. Seriously its gorgeous I love it. Thank you for your input by the way."

"What makes you think…." Peyton started but Cassie silenced her with a 'yeah right' look. "Ok so I gave them some advice but they put all the work in and from what I hear it was Brooke's idea."

Their conversation was cut short when Lucas yelled up the stairs that it was time to go. Making a face, Cassie stood up and gave Peyton a quick wave. "Guess I'll see ya there."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Peyton replied, her voice laced with sarcasm as usual.

…………………………………

"What are the chances we can all just go to sleep and when we wake up this will all be a bad dream?" Karen asked as she approached Deb's house with her fiancé.

"About the same as waking up and being a millionaire." Keith rang the doorbell and Deb answered quickly, ushering the two inside.

Haley and Nathan were already there, Karen guessed they had been there since this whole meeting had been arranged.

The door had only been closed for a second when the bell rang a second time and Deb opened it to greet Peyton, Jake and Brooke.

The tension in the air was so heavy it was almost impossible to catch a breath and it was obvious to everyone that Deb was feeling it the most.

"Would anyone like a drink?" She offered.

The group accepted and she headed out into the kitchen. Karen shared a look with Keith and stood to follow. When she approached she saw that Deb had stopped whatever she had been doing and was staring out the window, seemingly at nothing but Karen knew that every happy memory that she and Dan had shared must be flashing through her mind.

"Need some help?" She spoke softly so as not to startle her friend.

"With the drinks or with this screwed up situation?"

"Either or."

"Did you ever picture this? Back when you were in high school and you loved Dan, if somebody had told you that 18 years down the line we'd all be sitting here like this…"

"I'd have laughed in their faces because at the time I loved him. Just like you did. You shouldn't feel bad for feeling sorry for the person he used to be. Or for wishing that he would be that person again."

"What do you think makes someone become so evil?" Deb had moved away from the window and was now preparing glasses for everyone's drinks.

"I wish I could answer that. Then maybe we'd have a way out of this mess."

Once they had prepared the drinks they headed back to the rest of the group.

"So when are Lucas and Cassie getting here?" Deb asked, making small talk to try and break the tension.

"They should be here anytime now, they just headed over to Tric to pick up some supplies for the café."

………………………………………….

Flicking on the light, Cassie entered the spacious club, followed by Lucas.

"You know, when this place is open it's awesome. But when it's dead like this it kinda gives me the creeps."

Laughing, Lucas shoved her playfully further into the club. "Why the hell are you whispering?"

"No idea, I just feel like I should."

"You're weird you know that? Alright do me a favour, I'm gonna grab those boxes right over there, I need you to head over to the supply closet and get the rest. It's two days worth of deliveries so it might take a couple of trips."

She took the keys and gave her brother a light slap on the arm for his 'weird' remark. Once inside the large closet she began stacking up the boxes marked 'Café'. Lucas had been right when he said it would take more than one trip. There was a box marked 'Invoices' and Cassie wasn't sure if this belonged to the Café or the club.

"Hey Luke, do we need this box with invoices written on it?" She frowned when she received no reply. "Lucas?" Still nothing. Figuring he'd gone down to the car to load some boxes she turned and headed back out into the club.

Looking around the main room she couldn't see him anywhere. "Yeah Luke that's real f……" She stopped dead in her tracks and her blood ran cold when she made out the very still figure of her brother lying face down at the side of the bar. "Oh God Luke. Lucas!" She ran over and kneeled next to him immediately noticing the blood that was trickling slowly from a wound on the back of his head. "Oh shit!"

Those were the last words she spoke as she felt something soft and sweet smelling cover her mouth. Within seconds she was unconscious.

…………………………………….

A nervous feeling was stirring inside Keith. The group had been at Deb's for half an hour and it was well past seven. So where the hell were Lucas and Cassie?

No sooner had the thought entered his mind than there was a loud and frantic knock at the front door. Leaping up from his seat on the couch he went to answer it. His heart dropped when he opened the door to reveal a bloodstained Lucas who was holding the back of his head and wincing.

"Keith…. Cassie….we were at the club and…..I…"

The commotion had drawn the rest of the guest from the living room.

"Oh my God, Lucas!" Brooke rushed over to her bleeding boyfriend closely followed by Karen. Together they helped Lucas to the kitchen where Karen could get a good look at his injured head.

Lucas protested, clearly upset at what had happened. "No! Mom I'm fine. We have to find Cassie."

"Lucas I need you to calm down and tell me what happened." Karen soothed, her worry for her daughter growing by the minute.

Now that he had calmed down enough to take a breath Lucas was able to explain. "We were in the club. I was getting the boxes from near the bar and Cassie went to get the ones from the supply closet. Out of nowhere someone hit me and the next thing I know, I'm waking up on the floor and Cassie's gone. Keith I'm so sorry, I swear I didn't see anyone."

While Brooke took over tending to Lucas's injury, Karen went to Keith's side.

He looked down at her and saw his own fear reflected in her eyes. "He has her."

…………………………………..

_So how much do you hate me? Cliff hanger when I'm going away for a week I know. Bad! But I hadn't posted in a while so I thought I better update. Let me know what you think._


	12. Carve Your Heart Out Yourself

I just want to say thank you to those of you that reviewed; LiZ457, Peppioreo, and Amanda. Thanks for reading guys it means a lot. To those of you who've been reading but haven't gotten around to leaving a review, it's cool, thanks for reading anyways!

I also want to say a special thank you to nemo123489 for her continuous support and advice through reviews. I've taken everything you've said on board. Especially the private message you sent about Lucas and Keith. I re-read the chapter and you're totally right. So this chapter is for you.

**Chapter 12 **– **Carve Your Heart Out Yourself**

The icy breeze stung his eyes as he stared up at the clear night's sky causing tears to slowly make tracks down his face. At least that's what he'd tell anyone who asked. What right did he have to cry? It was entirely his fault that they were all in this messed up situation. If he had just put up more of a fight. If he hadn't taken Cassie with him to the club. If he hadn't caused the rift between Keith and Dan. If he hadn't been born.

Ok so maybe the last part was a little melodramatic. But that didn't stop it being true. If he hadn't existed then maybe Keith would have been closer to Dan and Nathan. Maybe Dan would have been closer to Cassie. Keith would deny it but deep down Lucas knew that he was the cause of Dan's resentment toward his brother. He hated the fact that Keith had taken over as father to the child he wished had never existed. Over the years his resentment grew and they became virtual strangers, only ever exchanging angry words which usually somehow related back to Lucas.

So whichever way he looked at it, this was his fault. Cassie was gone because of him. His heart ached when he thought about how scared she must be, wherever she was. They'd always been close but since she had returned from Ohio they had become closer than ever. No matter what biology said, she was his sister, and he loved her.

His thoughts were broken by a voice from behind.

"How's the head?"

Lucas tensed upon hearing his father's voice. Keith would surely be angry with him for allowing this to happen.

"It's fine. I'm fine."

"Ok well that's one answer. Now how about giving me the truth?"

Keith's voice was soft and held not a trace of anger. This surprised Lucas but he was still unable to turn and face him. He knew he wouldn't be able to take seeing the disappointment in his eyes. This was the man he had looked up to his entire life. He had idolised him from the moment he was old enough to talk.

"Lucas, look at me." Keith pleaded.

Finally Lucas lifted his eyes to meet his father's but he was surprised when Keith's expression held nothing but concern and love.

"I….I'm so sorry." His words came out as barely a whisper but Keith caught them loud and clear.

"Hey! Luke this is not your fault." When his son looked back down at the floor Keith reached over and lifted his head back up so that they were face to face. "Listen to me Lucas. You are not to blame for any of this."

"But if I had just…."

Keith cut him off. "If you had just what? Tried to fight? Where would that have got us? You might have been hurt even more than you were and I couldn't take that. I'm scared for Cassie. I'm terrified. But I'm glad that you're ok too, and I know Cassie would feel the same."

"You're not mad at me? I mean if it wasn't for me we wouldn't even be in this situation." Lucas voiced the thoughts that had been running through his mind moments before. "I'm the reason Dan hates you. It's because you stood by mom and me. If I hadn't…."

"Don't you dare finish that sentence!" Keith demanded. "There has never been a day in the last 17 years when I wished you didn't exist. I wouldn't trade my relationship with you for anything Lucas. Don't ever think that. You and your sister are the best things that ever happened to me. I love you son."

Lucas looked up at Keith through his tears. For as long as he could remember he had longed for the day that he would hear those words. And now sitting here with Keith he couldn't help but wonder why he had ever wanted to hear them from Dan. As far as he was concerned Keith was the only father he needed, and the only father he wanted.

"I love you too….Dad."

For the first time since Lucas had shown up at the house, Keith smiled. He patted Lucas on the back and pulled him into a hug.

They sat in silence for what seemed like forever. Eventually Lucas spoke up. "We should be out looking for her."

"Cassie's smart. If I know her she'll find a way to let me know where she is. Besides, I know my brother. He'll be in touch soon enough." After a moment Keith stood. "Come on. Your mom and Brooke are worried about you. Let's get back inside."

……………………………………

The darkness around her made Cassie wonder whether she had actually woken up or if she was still unconscious. Giving her eyes a few minutes to adjust she looked around and saw that she was in what appeared to be a classroom. The tables had been stacked up against the back windows and the blinds had been drawn, blocking out any light.

For a second, she wondered if she was having another dream. But as she tried to move she felt an agonising pain shooting through her head and suddenly the last couple of hours came rushing back to her.

Without warning the room was flooded with light and Cassie had to close her eyes against the bright white glow.

"Well well, sleeping beauty awakens."

She knew she should be scared. Any sensible person in this situation would feel even a slight amount of fear. But all Cassie felt at that moment was fury. She was royally pissed off.

"Yeah well this floor doesn't exactly make for a comfortable bed." She said, her voice laced with sarcasm.

Carefully, she pulled her self up into a sitting position and looked over at her Uncle, who was perched casually on a desk by the door. She tried to stand but whatever drugs had been used to knock her out in the club had weakened her legs and she quickly collapsed back to the ground. She let out a hiss of pain as her ankle connected with the corner of a steel cabinet.

"Please, don't get up on my account." Dan laughed.

"What did you do to Lucas?" She didn't want to give the man the satisfaction of seeing her worried, but she had to make sure her brother was ok.

"Me? Nothing sweetheart. Unfortunately I can take no credit for my son's injury. You don't seriously think the mayor of Tree Hill would get his hands dirty do you? No I sent the hired help to do that part. I'm sure Lucas is fine. In fact I'd like to bet he's over at my wife's house now telling his new daddy that he lost his precious little girl."

Cassie's anger intensified when she thought about her father and how worried he must be. Dan noticed the look in her eyes immediately.

"Aww what's the matter princess? Worried about daddy dearest? Tell you what. How about I check in on him for you?" He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and began to dial the number. Walking over to Cassie as he was dialling he held up the phone. "I'm feeling generous so I'll put it on speakerphone and let you in on the conversation, but I'm gonna need you to be nice and quiet. Can you do that for me?"

Before she had time to answer he pulled her to her feet and clamped a hand roughly over her mouth.

"Just in case." He said before pressing the call button.

…………………………………..

When his cell phone rang, Keith could have sworn his heart rate tripled. Pressing the accept key he put the phone to his ear. "Where is she!"

"Well hello to you too big brother."

"I swear to God Dan if you so much as….." He was cut off by his brother's voice.

"Not really a wise idea to threaten me right now, boozy. I think we both know who has the upper hand here."

Keith gripped the doorframe and tried to remain calm for his daughter's sake but to say it was a difficult task would be the understatement of the year.

The rest of the group looked on in silence. Brooke stood with Lucas who had a tight hold on his mother's hand. Nathan and Haley were close by with Deb and Peyton was clinging to Jake as tight as was physically possible. She and Cassie had become close very quickly and the thought of anything happening to her friend made her sick to her stomach.

"Let me talk to her." Keith demanded.

"I don't know if I can do that Keith."

"Damn it Danny let me talk to her!"

There was movement in the background and Keith's heart leapt when his daughter's voice came over the line.

"Dad?"

"Cassie! Honey, are you ok? Are you hurt? Where are you?"

"I'm…" She was cut off before she could say anymore.

"Patience big brother. My niece and I are spending some time getting reacquainted and we don't want any company right now."

The line went dead before Keith was able to get out another word.

………………………………….

Removing his hand from Cassie's mouth Dan laughed. "Daddy's rather selfish don't you think? He spent the last 17 years with my son. It's only fair I get to spend some time with you."

"The difference is Lucas actually loves my Dad. In case you haven't noticed I don't even like you let alone love you. I'd really rather forget you ever existed."

"You know, your not very polite little girl. Didn't your mother ever teach you to respect your elders? Oh but wait, she wasn't around to teach you anything was she?"

His words lit a fire in Cassie. Lifting her head she spat directly in her uncle's face. "Don't even say her name you asshole."

Dan reached up to wipe his face and then before she knew what was happening his hand shot out and grabbed her wrist, twisting it painfully. She cried out and squeezed her eyes shut against the pain.

Covering her mouth again to keep her quiet he kept a firm and painful grip on her wrist. The pain was excruciating and Cassie was unable to stop the tears that escaped her eyes as he continued to squeeze.

"I think someone needs a time out. I'll come back when you're feeling a little more pleasant."

Without another word he left, shutting off the light and locking the door behind him.

Clutching her wrist Cassie sank to her knees and let out the sob that had been waiting to escape. A sharp pain was now making its way up her arm. She took a deep breath and fought off the tears that wanted to break free. She wouldn't let him beat her.

_Ok Cassie, get a grip. You need to think._

She glanced around the classroom and her eyes settled on the blinds that covered the windows. Leaning carefully on her injured ankle she limped over and lifted them, looking out into the night and trying to get her bearings. The windows looked out onto what appeared to be a courtyard but to her disappointment it seemed to be completely enclosed.

She wondered if it would be possible to break the glass and get out into the courtyard. From there maybe she could break one of the other windows and get into the other side of the school.

Yet again she was disappointed when she discovered that the windows were made of a strong plastic rather than glass. She wouldn't be able to break them.

"Damn it!" She swore loudly. She slid down the wall and sat on the cold floor, realising that the only way she was going to get out of here, was through the door.

……………………………..

"Can you describe what your daughter was wearing?" The officer, clearly a rookie, ran through the standard procedural questions.

Keith did his best not to lose his patience with the kid. "Um…dark blue jeans and a Led Zeppelin t-shirt."

"Ok do you have a current picture that we can use?"

"Yeah." Reaching into his pocket, Keith pulled out his wallet and opened it to reveal a picture Lucas had taken of him and Cassie the night of her party at Tric. He paused for a moment, looking over the picture and silently praying that his little girl was ok.

"Sir?" The officer looked at him with sympathy. "I promise we'll get this back to you. We have an all points bulletin out on Mayor Scott and his vehicle, which means every one of our squad cars, knows to look out for them. Forensics are on their way to the club. We'll do our best to find her."

"Thank you" was all Keith could say.

The officer nodded and returned to his supervisor with the information he had gathered.

Keith sank down onto the sofa between Karen and Lucas. "Why hasn't he called back? It's been three hours."

Karen ran a soothing hand over her fiancé's back, doing her best to comfort him although the very same fears were running through her mind. "He just wants to mess with you. He wants you to be scared."

"Well he's doing an excellent job so far."

Deciding it best to leave his parents to it, Lucas stood and made his way into the kitchen taking a seat at the breakfast bar and resting his head in his hands.

"You ok man?" His brother's voice spoke from beside him.

Lucas shook his head. "Where is she Nathan?"

"I wish I knew." He said, placing a hand on his shoulder in support.

"Just this once I wish I could get inside Dan's head, you know? Know what he's thinking so maybe I could figure out where they are right now."

"Honestly I don't think he's thinking of much except scaring Keith as much as possible." Nathan was quiet for a moment before an idea struck him. "What if that's it? What if Dan didn't just take Cassie somewhere random? You know how he likes toying with people. What if he took her somewhere significant and he's waiting to see if Keith figures it out?"

"What could possibly be significant to Keith losing a child?" He sat up a little straighter as something Brooke had said to him earlier that day struck him. "Wait a minute."

"What?"

"The high school. Brooke and I were talking earlier and she said something about the only other time she'd ever seen Keith this scared. It was the day of the shooting at the high school. He was outside with my mom that day. Brooke said she'd never seen him like that. Then he ended up coming in after me and he was there when Jimmy killed himself."

Nathan thought for a second. "It's a long shot but you could be on to something. Do you think we should tell Keith?"

"Tell Keith what?" A voice spoke from the doorway and the boys looked up to see Keith standing before them.

Nathan spoke up for his brother. "We think we know where Cassie is."

…………………………………..

The sound of a key turning in a lock startled Cassie. She had just begun to drift off to sleep when she heard it. Looking down at her watch she saw that more than three hours had past since the phone call to her father. It was almost midnight.

"You in a better mood yet?" Her Uncle asked from the doorway.

"Well let's see I have a banging headache from whatever stuff your guy used to knock me out. I'm sitting on a freezing cold marble floor with an injured ankle and you damn near broke my wrist. I'm thinking no."

"You know, you definitely get that sarcasm from your father." He smirked as he took a seat by the door. "Speaking of, I wonder how he's doing."

"Pretty pleased with yourself for all of this aren't you? I wonder if you'll still feel that way when he finds us."

"What makes you think he will?"

"Oh please. If you were going for a hide away where he wouldn't find us then you pretty much suck at this. But my guess is you wanted him to work it out. I know all about the school shooting. I know that Lucas ran in after Peyton and that my Dad went in after him. I know that's why you brought me here. I'm not stupid and neither is my Dad, or Lucas for that matter. They'll figure it out soon enough if they haven't already."

"You're not afraid of me are you?" Dan asked, curiosity getting the better of him. He had to admit his niece impressed him.

"Not particularly and to be honest I don't get why everyone in this town seems to be."

"Maybe it's because they've seen what I'm capable of."

Before she was able to stop herself, Cassie broke out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Dan was becoming irate. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. She was supposed to be scared and yet here she was laughing at him.

"This whole situation. I feel like I'm stuck in some B rate teen slasher flick or something. And you just confirmed it with your ridiculous one liner. I didn't believe this kind of shit actually happened in real life."

"I guess that was a mistake on your part."

"Obviously." Cassie stood carefully, stretching her legs and trying to put a little weight on her ankle. She saw her Uncle tense as she stood. "Don't worry I'm just stretching my legs. You try sitting down there for over three hours. It ain't too comfortable."

"Yeah well comfort wasn't exactly what I was going for."

"Well gee aren't you just charming!" She could see her plan was working. Dan was getting more and more worked up at her nonchalant attitude. He wanted her to be quivering and afraid. So she had decided to go for the opposite. And apparently she had succeeded. Deep down though, she had to admit she was a little scared.

Dan began too approach her and right then she saw her chance. She shoved one of the desks as hard as she could, connecting with Dan's upper thigh. For a split second he faltered, but that was all Cassie needed. In no time at all she leapt over the desk and ran out into the hallway. Her ankle was screaming with pain but she ignored it. Turning the corner she came to the doors that would lead to her freedom. But just as she had thought, they were locked.

"Damn it!" She swore, looking around for another exit. She had to move quickly. The impact of the table hadn't been enough to seriously injure Dan and she knew he'd be right behind her.

Another pair of glass doors stood to her right and Cassie ducked through them as quietly as she could. Looking around she saw that she was in the library. That was good. Libraries had desks for the librarians didn't they? There had to be a phone around here somewhere.

After searching the room for what felt like a lifetime, she finally came across the librarian's station and she could have cried with relief when she saw what she had been searching for. She picked up the receiver and dialled the number that she had committed to memory.

He answered on the first ring.

"Dad!"

"Cassie! Thank God! Are you ok?"

"I'm ok for now but I can't get out and he knows this place a lot better than I do."

"What place? Cassie where are you?"

Keeping her voice as low as possible she answered his question. "I'm at the high school."

She heard a sigh of relief and her father turned to speak to someone beside him "You were right, she's at the high school." He turned his attention back to his daughter. "Ok Cassie I need you to listen to me. Honey I'm on my way. I'll be around ten minutes. Do you think you can stay hidden until then?"

"Yeah…I think so."

"That's my girl. Ok get out of sight and I'll be there as soon as I can. I love you Cassie. Stay strong for me honey."

Closing her eyes tightly against a wave of tears she returned the words. "I love you too Dad."

Placing the receiver back in its place she listened for any sign of movement. She knew if she stayed in one place too long there was a good chance Dan would find her. Ten minutes. It didn't sound like a long time in theory but it felt like a lifetime. She headed toward the library doors.

As she inched out into the hallway her ankle protested and she leaned heavily against the wall, holding a hand over her mouth to stifle the cry of pain that had risen in her throat.

The sound of laughter from behind her caused her to spin around, almost losing her balance as she did.

"Exactly how far do you think you're going to get on that?"

"How…" She began but he anticipated her question.

"How did I find you? Well like you said I know this place better than you." Seeing her eyes widen he nodded. "That's right. I heard your little conversation with Daddy. You're probably wondering why I didn't just come get you straight away right? Well I just thought it would be more fun if I let you come to me. Kill some time while waiting for my brother to make his appearance."

"You're sick you know that?"

"Oh that's pathetic. You got anymore horror movie clichés you wanna throw my way? How about 'you're never gonna get away with this', or my personal favourite, 'why are you doing this'. I've always wondered why people ask that. I mean, like it really matters anyway." He paused. "I bet you're still wondering though."

She shook her head. "Not really. Like you said it doesn't matter either way. The people in those movies only ever ask those questions as a stall tactic."

"And what you don't want to stall?"

"I don't need to stall. You're doing it for me. You could have easily killed me back in that room but you didn't. Do you even have what it takes Uncle Danny? Even when you set fire to my Dad's house you didn't stick around to make sure the job was done properly."

He took a step forward and as he did she turned to run. Her Uncle was quicker. Grabbing her by the arm he swung her around and pinned her against the wall. She managed to swing her elbow round and hit him square in the jaw. He faltered slightly but kept his hold on her. She felt her cheekbone explode with pain as he slapped her hard with the back of his hand and she fell to the ground.

She gritted her teeth against the pain as her body collided with the hard marble floor. She rolled over and tried to get to her knees but Dan shoved her back to the ground with his foot and stood heavily on her already injured wrist.

This time she was unable to stop the cry of pain that escaped her lips and a satisfied smirk grew on Dan's face.

"Still convinced that I'm stalling? I warned you when you got back that you didn't know who you were messing with. Maybe now you'll listen."

"Get the hell away from her Danny!"

Dan looked up and saw his brother ahead of him. He moved his foot from Cassie's wrist and placed it on her shoulder, pinning her to the ground.

"Big brother you made it. Took you long enough."

"Let her go."

In a lightening fast move, Dan reached down and pulled Cassie to her feet. She tried to pull away but his grip was strong and he pulled her back against him.

"The police are on their way Danny. The game's over. You're done."

Dan reached behind him and Keith froze as he noticed a flash of metal.

Dan raised the gun and pressed it against Cassie's temple. Her heart rate tripled and she closed her eyes. Now she was officially scared. Dan definitely wasn't playing around.

"Does it look like I'm done to you?" Turning to his niece he whispered menacingly in her ear, "You scared yet?"

Keith carefully stepped closer, glancing from Dan to his daughter. "She has nothing to do with this Danny. She's just a kid."

Dan laughed. "But that's where you're wrong big brother. From where I stand she has everything to do with this."

Seeing that her Uncle was distracted and the gun had moved from her head, Cassie took her chance. Lifting her arm she drove her elbow as hard as she could back into his ribs. He doubled over and his grip loosened giving Cassie the opportunity to get out of his grasp. She tried to make a run toward her father but Dan steadied himself and caught her in time, shoving her back against the wall.

Keith stepped forward to try and get to his daughter but Dan swung around and caught him in the cheek with the butt of the gun, sending him to the ground. Bringing his foot back Dan drove it hard into his brother's midsection.

"DAD!" This time she made it past her Uncle and dropped to her knees beside her father, who was doubled over clutching his ribs.

Dan reached down and grabbed her, once again yanking her away from Keith and sending her sprawling backwards onto the floor. As she fell, she landed on the wrist that Dan had twisted earlier that night and a searing pain shot up the length of her arm.

Looking up she saw Dan towering over her, the gun hanging loosely at his side.

"Got any more fight in you Neve Campbell?"

"You know Dan you keep mentioning these movies but have you actually ever watched any? If you had you'd know how they turn out at the end. The bad guy loses. In fact they usually end up dead if I'm not mistaken."

Before he could reply he felt and hand grab his shoulder and he spun round only to be met with a heavy blow from his brother's fist. He doubled back but remained standing. Another blow hit the other side of his face.

"You made a big mistake Danny. You really shouldn't have brought my daughter into this."

He swung at his brother again but this time Dan was ready and grabbed his arm. Shoving Keith against the wall he pinned him back with an arm across his throat, pressing down heavily and pointing the gun directly at him.

"The only mistake was the one you made when you tried to kill me."

"Except he didn't try to kill you."

Dan looked up to see his youngest son glaring back at him. He was surrounded by police and several guns were now trained on him. The police officer beside Nathan whispered something in his ear but Nathan held up a hand, signalling for them to give him a few more minutes.

"Keith didn't try to kill you Dad. I can tell you that for a fact."

"Oh really and how can you do that?"

"Because it was me. I set the dealership on fire."

Keith shot his nephew a look that told him to shut the hell up. Nathan ignored it.

"What? That surprise you? How does it feel Dad? To know that your son hates you enough to try to kill you. I've spent my whole life watching you make the people I care about miserable. Like I said Dad, you hurt everyone you touch. Take a look around you. There's a _seventeen_ year old girl lying over there in pain, physically and emotionally. You did that. She's a kid and you almost killed her in some kind of twisted revenge for a crime your brother didn't even commit. So now you know Dad. What are you gonna do huh? Are you gonna shoot me?"

"You're lying," was all Dan managed to say as his son's words washed over him.

"Am I? Are you sure about that Dad? What makes you think I'm not capable of attempted murder? I'm your son after all. You raised me. You're the cause of all this Dad" Nathan took a step closer to the pair as he continued to bait his father. "Not Keith or Karen or Lucas or Mom. Not even me. You did this yourself. And now you have to live with the fact that your own son felt that he had no other way out from under you than to light you on fire and watch you burn."

Nathan's comments seemed to hit a hidden nerve within Dan. His brother's face was inches from his and Keith watched in disbelief as all the fight seemed to drain out of him.

Before anyone knew what was happening Dan pushed back from his brother and turned the gun on himself. Several shouts were heard, mostly warnings from police officers to drop the gun.

Then a single shot went off and Dan fell to the ground, dropping the gun.

Keith watched as blood seeped from his brother's shoulder where the officer had shot him. He stumbled over to where his daughter was lying and dropped down beside her gathering her up into his arms. "It's ok honey. It's over."

It was only as he uttered those words, that Cassie allowed her emotions to take over. Clinging to her father as tight as she could, she sobbed into his chest.

………………………………………….

The next few moments went by in a blur and before she knew it Cassie was being picked up off the ground by Lucas, who enveloped her in a tight hug as Nathan helped Keith to his feet.

Lucas looked around, taking in the scene before him.

"Man, this is right where Jimmy died."

Keith looked around and for the first time noticed that Lucas was right. They had ended up in pretty much the exact same spot where he had stood just over a month ago, watching as a teenager's life faded away in front of his eyes. He could only thank God that this time hadn't turned out the same.

Unlike the day of the shooting, there were no flashing cameras and news crews waiting for them as they headed out into the night air. Upon reaching the ambulance that had arrived, Cassie was immediately gathered up into the arms of her mother. Keith wrapped his arms around the pair and signalled to Lucas who soon joined the embrace.

Eventually, the paramedics interrupted the reunion and ushered Keith and Cassie over to the ambulance to be checked over.

Keith urged Cassie to go first and watched as she was checked for any sign of internal injury. He breathed a little easier when she was given the all clear. Other than bruising and a severely sprained wrist, she was fine.

As he took his turn, he prayed to God that another hospital stay would be avoided. There was only one place he wanted to be right now and that was at home with his family.

"Ok Mr Scott, your stitches seem fine. Now I need you to lay back for me so I can check you for internal bleeding." After checking his abdomen the paramedic helped Keith to a sitting position. "Ok everything seems fine. I'm gonna bandage up those ribs and I want you to take it easy for a while. Your wife told me about your recent injuries, you're a lucky man, it could have been a lot worse."

He squeezed his daughter's hand a little tighter as he let the paramedic's words sink in. "Yeah it could."

Father and daughter climbed carefully out of the ambulance, assisted by Lucas and Karen. At that moment the sound of the high school doors opening caused them to turn.

A group of police officers surrounded a stretcher that was being wheeled towards the second ambulance. Cassie could make out an oxygen mask covering the face of a figure that she knew to be her Uncle. She leaned a little further into her father and they watched as the stretcher was loaded into the ambulance and driven out of sight.

Nathan appeared beside them then, followed by the rest of the group.

"Thank you Nathan." Cassie said softly, pulling him in for a hug.

"Yeah Nate you did good. Thanks." Keith patted him on the shoulder. "Why'd you lie though? About the fire. Why did you tell him it was you?"

Nathan glanced at the spot where the ambulance had been moments before. "Everyone says my Dad is heartless. And in most cases they'd be right. He may not have cared about Karen or Lucas or even really my mom. But for some reason I was different. I guess he saw himself in me. And despite the fact that our relationship wasn't great I had the one thing no-one else could seem to get close to. His heart. And I guess that gave me more power than anyone when it came to bringing him down."

_Hope you guys liked it! I rewrote it because I wasn't 100 happy with the original draft but I think I'm happy with this one. Let me know what you think. There's probably only going to be one more chapter to this story and then I'll be moving on to the sequel. I know in this story I've kinda stuck to the topic of Cassie and Dan so I think I'm gonna make the next one more of a serial drama with the other characters getting their own storylines and such. We'll see. If any of you have any ideas or requests of things you'd like to see in the sequel leave me a review and let me know. Thanks for reading._


	13. Feeling A Moment

_**Warning – Total, complete, and utter fluff to follow. You might want to have some tissues (or maybe a bucket, lol) handy.**_

**Epilogue – Feeling A Moment**

The day was perfect. It was warm but not so warm that it left you feeling sticky and agitated. There was a gentle breeze in the air and the sun was blazing. Cassie took a deep breath and smiled to herself. It felt good to have her morning run back. She loved her family and friends with all her heart but sometimes she just needed a little bit of time to herself.

As she approached the entrance to the hospital she found herself wondering if she was the only one who had come here so far, or if anyone knew about her visits. Every morning for the last two weeks she had gone out on her usual run and on the way back had stopped by the hospital. The first time she came she told herself it was just for closure. But then the next day she found herself outside the same room. If anyone had asked her why, she wouldn't have been able to answer. Truthfully, she wasn't sure what made her keep coming back.

She wandered down the now familiar hallway and stopped outside the room. The nurses never asked questions. Sometimes she wondered why. It must seem strange to them. She only ever showed up early in the morning and her visits usually lasted around ten minutes at a time. Nevertheless she was grateful that no-one had approached her.

Pushing open the door, she entered the small room. She could hear the familiar and steady beep of the heart monitor as she looked down at the figure lying before her.

"My Mom and Dad are getting married today. They decided that after everything that's happened they didn't want to wait any longer. So I guess in a strange sort of way I owe you a thank you. Because despite your worst intentions my family is closer and stronger than ever."

She received no reply but then she hadn't expected one. The doctors hadn't been able to give any explanation for why he was still unconscious. It just seemed that he didn't want to wake up.

"If you can hear me at all wherever you are then you're probably wondering why I keep coming back, or why I even came in the first place. I guess, despite everything, I feel sorry for you. You look so weak lying there with all those wires attached to you. The mighty Dan Scott has finally fallen." She laughed in spite of herself. "I should probably hate you after what you did but honestly, standing here now looking at you, I don't feel hate or anger. I did at first but then I realised, why should I? I'm still here. You didn't beat me. You didn't beat any of us. The adoptions have been finalised. Lucas is now officially my Dad's son, and my brother. Karen is my mom. We're a real family. And I don't think I've ever seen my Dad so happy. We're moving on. I just hope that one day you can too."

She turned to leave but stopped when she noticed a figure leaning against the doorframe. "Nathan, hey."

He entered the room and stood beside her. "I think you possibly have to be the strongest person I know. After everything Dan put you through for you to come here and say those things, it must be hard. Why do you do it?"

"Honestly deep down I think a big part of the reason I come here every day if for my Dad. He still can't bring himself to come. Can't really say I blame him but I think he needs to. I've told him he should but right now the anger is still too raw. So I'm doing it for him."

Nathan nodded. "I wasn't gonna come and see him. Hales has been telling me that I should but I guess I felt like if I did it would almost be like I was forgiving him for everything he's done. I felt like I'd be betraying everyone he's hurt, you know. You, Keith, Lucas."

Cassie shook her head and stepped toward her cousin. "Dan has done some pretty bad things, but somewhere in there he's still your father. It's ok to feel bad for him."

"Yeah maybe."

"Definitely." Cassie made to leave but then turned back. "Nathan, don't let it eat at you. You saved my life that day, possibly my father's too. It took a lot of guts to do what you did. You should be proud."

"Thanks. Oh and uh, I'm guessing no-one knows about your visits so…I want you to know I won't say anything. I'll see you at the wedding."

Cassie smiled and gave her cousin a slight nod then turned and left.

………………………………………….

"Damn it where the hell is my tie!" Keith blew out a frustrated breath as he searched the room for the third time.

Lucas approached the doorway, having heard the yelling. "What's going on?" He asked.

"I can't find my damn tie. I know I left it here somewhere!"

Lucas laughed at his father. "Uh it's around your neck."

Keith looked down at the unfastened bow tie that was hanging loosely around his neck. He laughed at his own stupidity and looked up at Lucas who was still wearing an amused grin. "I'm glad you find this so funny!" He said through his own smile, throwing a rolled up pair of socks at his son.

Lucas dodged the missile effortlessly. "It is funny. Come on Dad! You're a nervous wreck. How many times have you thrown up this morning?"

"Six….and there's still time for a seventh."

Approaching his father Lucas put his hands on his shoulders and looked him in the eye. "Seriously, chill! We still have plenty of time to get ready. Everything is going to be fine."

"Everything's gonna be fine. Right. Yeah."

"Just keep saying it exactly like that."

"You got the ring?"

"I have the ring, your groomsmen are ready and I think they said the ceremony was booked. No… yeah I'm sure I remembered to book it."

Playfully shoving his son Keith laughed. "Don't even joke about it."

Turning serious for a moment Lucas looked back at Keith. "It's gonna be a great day Dad."

"You know it still feels pretty amazing hearing you call me that."

Throwing the rolled up socks back across the room Lucas smiled and replied, "Yeah well…it still feels pretty amazing to say it."

"How do you think your mom is doing?"

"Probably about as well as you."

…………………………………………………

Hearing the toilet flush again Cassie turned to Haley. "That's like, the fourth time she's thrown up in an hour."

"It's just nerves. I wouldn't worry about it."

"Yeah…" Cassie said, not at all convinced. Ordinarily she wouldn't give it a second thought. She knew how nervous both her parents were. But what she hadn't told Haley, was that this was the third time in a week that she'd heard her mom throwing up.

The girls had decided to get ready at Haley's. Since they were sticking to tradition and Karen hadn't been allowed to see Keith before the wedding, they had all stayed there the night before. It had been cramped, but fun nonetheless. Since Karen hadn't been able to choose between Brooke, Haley and Peyton, she decided to have them all as bridesmaids, making the task of getting ready an absolute nightmare.

"Ow! Peyton! Jeez, that hurt!" Brooke yelled, instinctively pulling away from the curling iron that her best friend was holding.

"Well if you'd sit your ass still for two seconds I wouldn't burn you now would I!" Peyton yelled back, playfully slapping her best friend on the shoulder.

"Tutorwife I think you should take over here cause…." She leaned towards Haley and pretended to lower her voice to a whisper, "Peyton is turning into a hairdressing nazi! Ow!" She jumped as she felt the hot iron touch her again. "Hey you did that on purpose!"

Peyton gasped sarcastically. "B Davis how could you ever suggest such a thing!"

Brooke sent a mock glare towards her as Haley took over the curling.

Cassie just laughed at the scene as she finished off her make up. She glanced into the bedroom and saw her mother finally exiting the bathroom. Deciding to approach her about the issue she entered the room. "Hey Mom, you ok?"

For a split second Karen looked caught off guard but quickly recovered. "Sure honey. Why wouldn't I be?"

Cassie however had noticed the expression on her face when she had asked the question. "Maybe because that's the third time this week I've heard you throwing up. What's going on? Is something wrong?"

Karen sighed, deciding the truth was the best option. She had wanted to wait until after the ceremony and tell them all together but Cassie was obviously worried.

"Close the door and come sit down."

Cassie frowned but did as asked.

"Ok well you don't need to worry. Nothing's wrong. But you're right, I have been throwing up a lot." She paused, waiting to see it the pieces would fall into place. They did.

"OH MY GOD!" Cassie yelled, quickly being quietened by Karen. She glanced at the door and lowered her voice. "Seriously? I mean, are you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure but let's just keep it between you and me for now ok. Just until after the ceremony when I can tell your father and Lucas."

Cassie could only nod. Her excitement getting the best of her she threw her arms around her mother. "This is so cool I always wanted to be a big sister."

"Great so I can sign you up for babysitting and night feed duty then?" Karen joked.

"Uh yeah let's just take the big sister thing one day at a time!" Cassie joked back, getting a laugh out of Karen. "Ok I think we're all set here. Let's go get you married!"

The pair left the bedroom sharing a secretive smile as they approached the others who all seemed to be ready.

A knock at the door signalled the arrival of Whitey. In the absence of her father Karen could think of no-one she would rather ask. Whitey had been a good friend to Keith for many years as well as a role model to Lucas and at times almost a father figure to her. It seemed fitting that he should be in the wedding.

Haley let him in and the girls picked up their purses, ready to leave.

"Ladies you all look beautiful." Whitey commented before turning his attention to the bride. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this day! It's about damn time you two tied the knot. You look stunning Karen."

"Thanks Whitey." She replied, giving him a hug. "And thanks for doing this. It means a lot to both of us."

"There's nowhere in the world I'd rather be." As they headed out the door he glanced down at her. "You ready for this?"

Smiling, more to herself than to Whitey, Karen hooked her arm through his. "More than ready."

……………………………………………….

The ceremony was being held at a quiet spot near the beach. A look out point up on the cliffs. It was well known for its beauty. A wide grassy area dotted with daffodils, gave way to the plunging cliffs and a view of the clear blue ocean and the small town of Tree Hill.

A large white canopy with steps leading up to a slightly raised platform had been set up. Seating areas had been set up in front of this, creating an aisle down the centre. Lilies had been wrapped carefully around the posts of the canopy as well as being attached to the end of each row of seats. Petals from more lilies had been sprinkled down the aisle and onto the platform where the wedding would take place.

In a word, it was breathtaking.

Keith took in the scene with wide, disbelieving eyes. "Luke this is….amazing!"

"You like it?"

"No I love it. Thank you. Remind me to thank Cassie later."

"You could thank her now."

Keith spun around upon hearing his daughter's voice and for a moment he lost the ability to speak as he took in the sight before him.

Her hair was beautifully curled and pinned up, with loose tendrils falling loosely and framing her face. She wore a floor length, light blue, satin dress which scooped low at the back with thin, criss-cross straps holding it in place. The dress was figure hugging, but not tight and her make up had been done lightly, accentuating her natural beauty.

"Honey you look….incredible!"

Lucas couldn't have agreed more. "Yeah Cass you look beautiful."

"Why thank you but just wait until you see the bride!"

They laughed and Cassie shared a hug with her father before returning to her place at the back of the ceremony area where Karen's limo was arriving.

"This is it!" Nathan patted Keith on the back as the three of them took their places at the front of the aisle.

Keith only smiled as the music began to play.

_I just swear_

_That I'll always be there_

_I'd give anything_

_And everything_

_And I will always care._

Peyton and Brooke were the first bridesmaids to walk down the aisle. It had been decided that they would go together, followed by Haley, on her own, and finally Cassie.

Lucas was unable to take his eyes off his girlfriend as she walked gracefully down the aisle. Her dress and make up were the same as Cassie's though she wore her hair mostly down and lightly curled, with only a small amount pinned up. She kept her eyes trained on his the whole way down the aisle.

_Through weakness and strength_

_Happiness and sorrow_

_For better for worse_

_I will love you_

_With every beat of my heart_

As Peyton approached the front of the aisle and turned to take her place her eyes searched for Jake's, smiling when she found him already staring at her looking as though he was having difficulty breathing. For the first time in as long as she could remember she felt truly beautiful. Her hair had been left straight and pinned up, accentuating her high and prominent cheekbones. Her dress hugged her figure in all the right places though still appearing graceful and elegant. She wasn't always an over confident person but she knew she looked good.

_From this moment_

_Life has begun_

_From this moment_

_You are the one_

_Right beside you_

_Is where I belong_

_From this moment on_

Haley was next and Nathan could have sworn his jaw hit the ground when he saw her. Her dress framed her figure perfectly and her long blonde locks had been pinned to one side, falling down over her shoulder beautifully. As he watched her walk towards him a thought struck him. He wanted this. He wanted to be able to stand in front of all his friends and family and proudly declare how much he loved her. Their first wedding had been beautiful but he knew how much it meant to her to have everyone there. It meant a lot to him too.

_From this moment_

_I have been blessed_

_I live only _

_For your happiness_

_And for your love _

_I'd give my last breath_

_From this moment on_

As Keith watched his daughter begin her path down the aisle he couldn't have agreed more with the words of the song. Blessed was exactly how he felt. In that moment he had everything he could possibly want. Lucas was standing beside him as his best man, and as his son; his daughter was back with her family where she belonged; and in a few moments, the woman he had loved for almost fifteen years would become his wife.

As Cassie passed by her father she smiled and mouthed the words 'I love you' before taking her place at the head of the bridal party. Keith smiled back and turned his attention back to the aisle. For a split second he could have sworn his heart actually stopped beating as he finally caught sight of her.

_I give my hand to you with all my heart_

_I can't wait to live my life with you_

_I can't wait to start_

_You and I will never be apart_

_My dreams came true_

_Because of you_

If someone had asked him to describe her then in one word, he wouldn't have been able to. He couldn't think of a single word that would sum up how she looked in that moment. In her floor length, white satin dress she was the picture of elegance. Brooke had certainly outdone herself this time. The strapless, corset-style bodice hugged her figure in all the right places as far as Keith was concerned and the material flowed gracefully to the floor, trailing behind her slightly as she walked.

She paused at the top of the aisle for a moment and their eyes met. His face exploded into a grin. No words were required in that moment. Their hearts said it all.

_From this moment_

_As long as I live_

_I will love you_

_I promise you this_

_There is nothing_

_I wouldn't give_

_From this moment on_

_Oh_

He watched as she began to approach him, led by Whitey. She seemed to almost float gracefully down the aisle.

_You're the reason I believe in love_

_And you're the answer to my prayers from up above_

_All we need is just the two of us_

_My dreams came true_

_Because of you_

As she stepped up beside him in front of everyone they knew he took her hands in his and they stood for a moment, both content just to take their time and allow the words of the song to wash over them.

_From this moment_

_As long as I live_

_I will love you_

_I promise you this_

_There is nothing _

_I wouldn't give_

_From this moment_

_I will love you_

_As long as I live_

_From this moment on._

As the music faded out the Reverend stepped up beside them and the ceremony began.

"Friends, we are gathered here today to witness the union of two souls as they openly give their hearts to each other and begin their journey as one. On this occasion Karen and Keith have decided to write there own vows. Karen…"

Looking up into the eyes of her fiancé Karen felt not one ounce of hesitation as she began her speech.

"I think it was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who said 'it is difficult to know at what moment love begins; it is less difficult to know that it has begun'. For the last eighteen years you've been by my side. The one constant in my life; the person I could always count on. But if someone was to ask me at what moment I started loving you, I wouldn't have an answer. Because the truth is I have loved you for as long as I can remember. I guess I was held back by the fear of opening my heart completely and making myself vulnerable. Then one day someone said to me that at some point you have to let go and give your heart what it deserves."

The use of his words was not lost on Lucas and a proud grin spread across his face as he locked eyes with his mother over Keith's shoulder.

Turning her attention back to Keith, Karen continued. "So today, I'm letting go. And I'm giving my heart to you with the promise that it will be yours unconditionally until the end of time. This is my solemn vow."

Keith was finding it physically impossible to stop smiling at that moment. God he wanted to kiss her so much. The reverend turned to him and signalled for him to begin his vows.

"I've never been very good with words so it won't come as a surprise that when I sat down to write these vows, I drew a blank. I ended up sitting with a blank sheet of paper in front of me and just staring off into space. And then I realised that a big speech isn't really important. Today is our day. It's about who we are and how we feel. Every morning when I wake up and look over at you, and realise that you're really mine there's only one word I can think of that sums up what I feel. I feel alive. When I look into your eyes I see my whole world. I love you Karen. With all my heart. And I never want to lose that feeling. So I promise to spend every day for the rest of my life trying to give you the same happiness that you give me. This is my solemn vow."

Karen's eyes filled with tears as she listened to his words. She couldn't believe that she had ever doubted her love for this man in front of her. She was broken from her thoughts when the Reverend spoke again.

"Karen, do you take Keith to be your husband? Do you promise to love and cherish him through good times and bad, in sickness and in health, 'til death do you part?"

Not pausing for a second, she answered, "I do."

"Keith, do you take Karen to be your wife? Do you promise to love and cherish her through good times and bad, in sickness and in health, 'til death do you part."

Keith squeezed her hand a little tighter. "I do."

Lucas looked over at Cassie, who had tears glistening in her eyes, and gave her a wink as the reverend said the words they had both been waiting their whole lives to hear.

"By the power vested in me by the state of North Carolina, I now pronounce you, husband and wife." Looking at Keith, the Reverend grinned knowingly and spoke his final line. "You may now kiss your bride."

Unable to hold back for a second longer, Keith leaned forward and claimed Karen's lips in a kiss that was filled with fifteen years worth of love, passion and longing.

The crowd erupted into applause as they made their way back down the aisle together, followed by Lucas and Cassie, Haley and Nathan and finally Brooke and Peyton.

Their world was complete.

…………………………………………….

The reception was well underway and it was almost time for the speeches. It was being held at Deb's house and the guests were currently in the garden at the back of the house drinking and socialising. Karen and Keith had decided against a sit down meal, opting instead for a beautifully catered buffet. An area had been set up on the patio for the band and several tables were dotted around the lawn.

The sound of tapping on a glass indicated that the speeches were about to begin and the crowd fell silent as Lucas began to speak.

"I'd like to begin with a poem by Elizabeth Akers Allen." He pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket.

"_At last, when all the summer shine _

_That warmed life's early hours is past, _

_Your loving fingers seek for mine _

_And hold them close at last at last! _

_Not oft the robin comes to build_

_Its nest upon the leafless bough _

_By autumn robbed, by winter chilled,_

_But you, dear heart, you love me now. _

_Though there are shadows on my brow _

_And furrows on my cheek, in truth, _

_The marks where time's remorseless plough _

_Broke up the blooming sward of Youth,_

_Though fled is every girlish grace _

_Might win or hold a lover's vow, _

_Despite my sad and faded face, _

_And darkened heart, you love me now! _

_I count no more my wasted tears; _

_They left no echo of their fall; _

_I mourn no more my lonesome years; _

_This blessed hour atones for all. _

_I fear not all that Time or Fate _

_May bring to burden heart or brow,_

_Strong in the love that came so late, _

_Our souls shall keep it always now!"_

It was as though the poem had been written for them, Keith thought as he let the words sink in. He wrapped his arms around his wife as Lucas finished reading the poem and began to speak from his heart.

"Someone once said to me that people who are meant to be together always find their way in the end." He glanced at Brooke as he said this and the two shared a knowing smile. "At the time I didn't believe it. But standing here now I realise how true it is. I can't remember a time in my life when Keith wasn't around. No matter how tough life got for my mom and me, he was there. And I remember times when I would get so frustrated wondering why my mom couldn't just see how perfect they were for each other. I wanted so badly for them to get married. I figured that if they did Keith would be my Dad. What I realise now is that he always was my Dad.

At that moment father and son locked eyes and Lucas was slightly taken aback to see tears in Keith's eyes.

"His love and guidance helped make me the person I am today and that's what being a father is all about. And in that same way it was his love and support that helped my mom become the person she is today. And that's what true love is all about. So now I see that there was no need for me to wish for so long for them to be together because in their hearts they always were."

He raised his glass. "To my parents, Keith and Karen Scott…at last."

For the second time that day the crowd applauded as Cassie switched places with her brother, giving him a brief hug as he left the stage.

"Wow. Ok um, I'm not as good with words as my brother so I decided to do something a little bit different. When mom made me the Maid of Honor she also gave me another responsibility. She asked me to pick the song for their first dance as husband and wife. So here I was with only a week to pick the perfect song and write a speech. Let's just say time wasn't on my side."

A collective laugh echoed around the garden.

"Then Haley came up with this idea which at the time I was even less thrilled with. But then I found the perfect song and I realised that everything I could say about mom and dad and their feelings about each other was already written in the lyrics. I actually couldn't believe how perfect it was because not only did it say a lot about their feelings for each other, it also summed up completely my feelings about them and about the family that has formed around me ever since I moved back to Tree Hill. So with a little help from Haley, I'd like to give the newlyweds their first dance. Mom, Dad, you better come on up before I change my mind and wimp out."

Keith did as asked, taking his wife's hand and leading her up onto the patio in front of the stage which was being used as the dance floor. He winked at his daughter as the music began to play. Seeing her up there, so full of confidence, after everything she'd been through made his heart swell with pride. And when she started to sing, he began to wonder if this was all just a dream. If it was, he definitely didn't want to wake up.

_In your eyes I find the answers to my questions.  
In your arms, yeah, I found the world I've waited for.  
In your touch, found everything I ever needed.  
I need nothing more._

Always dreamed of the day 

_When my dream would find me.  
Now my dream's beside me.  
You are in my life.  
_

"Wow, she's good. Looks like we might have another Haley James-Scott in our midst." Peyton commented.

Lucas smirked. "Nah. Something tells me this will be a one time performance. Cassie isn't a big fan of attention. She's probably cringing internally up there."

_  
In your arms I know where I belong.  
I've never known this feeling, oh,  
But it feels like home.  
In your eyes I know what I can be.  
You opened up your heart to me.  
And it feels like home.  
When I'm with you, baby,  
It feels like home._

The newlyweds swayed in time with the music, Karen with her head resting gently on Keith's shoulder and his arms wrapped tightly around her.

"I love you Mrs Scott."

_All those times _

_When there was not much to believe in.  
I kept my faith, yeah, _

_that you were waiting there for me._

"I should hope so or I just wasted a perfectly good dress." They shared a laugh before she turned serious. "I love you too Mr Scott. As a matter of fact I have a wedding gift for you." She took his hand and placed it gently over her stomach.

_I searched this world.  
And now my search is finally over.  
I've found what I need._

He looked down at her in confusion before it dawned on him and his confusion morphed into an ecstatic smile. "Are you serious? We're gonna have a baby!"

_Always hoped for the day  
When my heart would find you.  
Now my hearts beside you.  
You are in my life._

He hadn't said it loudly, but it had been loud enough for Lucas, who was standing nearby with Brooke and the rest of the group, to hear.

"Oh my God did you hear that! Your mom's pregnant!" Brooke squealed excitedly.

Once the shock wore off Lucas swept Brooke into his arms, just as Keith did the same with his wife.

_  
In your arms I know where I belong.  
I've never known this feeling, oh,  
But it feels like home.  
In your eyes I know what I can be.  
You've opened up your heart to me.  
Oh, and it feels like home._

Pulling back from the embrace Keith looked into his Karen's eyes. "I can't remember ever feeling this happy. Seeing you in that dress, seeing Cassie up there on stage, and hearing Lucas say those words. And now we're gonna have a baby. This has been the most amazing day of my life."

Karen said nothing but instead pulled him down to meet her lips. It told him everything he needed to know. Despite everything they had been through they had come through it together; as a family.

_It doesn't matter where I've been,  
Or what I've been through.  
cause I know I've been waiting every day of my life  
To be with you, to be with you._

_In your arms I know where I belong.  
I've never known this feeling before,  
But it feels like home.  
In your eyes I know what I can be.  
You've opened up your heart to me, oh  
And it feels like home._

Cassie smiled down at them as she sang. She had been back in Tree Hill for just over a month but it wasn't until that moment, watching her parents dance in each other's arms at their wedding, that she felt truly at home._  
_

_When I'm with you baby it feels like home._

…………………………………………………….

_So there it is. The big finale! I hope I did it justice to make up for the fact that we won't be seeing it on TV! It's been fun guys and yes there will be a sequel. I'm starting on it pretty much straight away but I want to get a few chapters done before I start posting so there might be a bit of a break in between. Thanks for reading!_


	14. Author Note

Wow it's been a few years now since I last posted and I guess I owe people a huge apology! I'm always the first to complain when people stop updating a story suddenly so apologies to anyone who was still reading. What can I say, it's been a hectic few years.

Obviously a lot of time has passed on One Tree Hill since I last posted and a lot of people will probably feel that the school days are done and dusted. Having said that, I kinda miss those days and my stories Something of Value and Chasing Daylight were stories that I genuinely loved writing. So for anyone who is still interested.... a new version of Something of Value will be coming soon!

The basic story is the same however the plot and backstory has been completely re-worked. This story will be longer, will include the other characters a lot more, and will have a lot more character development than the last one. My style of writing has changed, but for the better!

So for anyone who is still interested in taking a trip back to the good old days..... watch this space. It may take me some time but I will be back!


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